ATTACHMENT DISORDER:
Attachment Disorders range in severity. In fact,
the attachment continuum runs from securely attached through degrees of
attachment issues all the way to those who suffer from severe attachment
disorder as in my son's case.
With the addition of hundreds of children
adopted from institutional settings and from the foster care system, it is
important for all of us to become educated regarding the potential and unique
problems these children and their families face. It is by this understanding
that we can forge ahead and learn to help our families heal.
We must also remember
that all adopted and foster care kids do not suffer from attachment disorder. A
lot has to do with the individuals themselves - their physiological and
psychological make-up, the type of environment they were in and the duration
they were in that environment. With this in mind, we do not want people to
become wary of adoption because of attachment disorder. We want people to become
educated about it.
I often wish I had known what was going on with my son sooner as I look back on
years that were spent utilizing ineffective therapies and parenting strategies.
We would have started on the road to healing sooner.
Adoptees are not the only individuals that can suffer from attachment issues.
Adults who did not get their emotional and physical needs met in the first few
years as well as families who have biological children who, for whatever reason,
did not have a strong connection with their primary caregiver. Some of the
causes
of attachment problems are very subtle and often go unrecognized.
Within these pages we
try to offer pertinent information to help you on your healing journey. Through
our secure
Email List,
we offer understanding, compassion, and support.
source:
http://www.attachmentdisorder.net/
Wounded hearts can
heal.
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
Attachment Disorder is a "serious, relatively fixed emotional and behavioural
disturbance in a child whose early attachment relationships were abnormal" (RJ
Delaney, 1991) recognised by the World Health Organisation in the International
Classification of Diseases (10th Edition).
John Bowlby, who wrote "Attachment and Loss" in 1951 and "Forty Juvenile Thieves"
in 1946 continually emphasised that
"mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are
vitamins and proteins for physical health."
Much later, in 1974, Schwartz et al found that children who experienced
day-care from infancy were rated as significantly less co-operative with adults,
more physically and verbally aggressive with both peers and adults, and more
active. There was also a tendency for them to be less tolerant of frustration
which is a generally reliable touchstone of mental health, and may easily
explain the easily sparked violence in our society.
In 1986, Lynn Barnett found that "Staff ratios for day nurseries suggested by
DHSS are inadequate for the care of normal children under three; children who
have a high degree of exposure to a day nursery are likely to be more aggressive
than children with low continuous care."
Again in 1986, J Conrad Schwartz found that group care was "associated with
lower intelligence, poorer verbal skills and shorter attention."
A year later, Jean Ispa et al found that "Parent-only care stood out as the
early care arrangement most associated with high functioning."
In 1991, with a sample of around 900, the University of Missouri-Columbria
found that "No day-care in infancy was the best predictor of above average high
school achievement."
Penelope Leach states that "infants need consistency; in a nursery providing
plenty of cover you might find as many as eighteen adults handling a baby over
the course of a week, some of them just filling in - total strangers."
Perhaps the most frightening statement comes from Dr Elliot Barker, Head of
Canada's NSPCC and a forensic psychiatrist. He maintains, "If you move a child
under three through a dozen different foster parents you will produce a
psychopath." he points out that a dozen changing daycare-givers may produce a
person without empathy, conscience or the capacity for trust which in the long
term could be more of a danger to society. source
http://www.jbaassoc.demon.co.uk/kate/attachmentexpert.htm
Attachment
Disorder - What a Mother says
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Mother's Place is in the home
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