Thursday, October 21, 2010

Parental Alienation - A Mental Disorder?

I recently came across an interesting article on NPR's website regarding whether or not Parental Alienation should be classified as a mental health disorder.  The article can be seen in its entirety here.  The debate is taking place at the American Psychiatry Association.  On the one side are advocates of domestic violence victims (mostly women) who believe the entire notion of parental alienation is a fabricated pseudo-science created by abusive partners (mostly men) who are trying to deflect attention away from their own behavior which, ostensibly, is the more likely cause of the estrangement between the child and father.  On the other side of the debate are numerous mental health professionals who hope to see parental alientation classified as a verifiable diagnosis so that the issue can be dealt with more forthrightly in Family Court.

As stated in a previous post, it is my firm belief that parental alienation is not only real, but devastating to families.  I have seen firsthand the traumatic effect that this insidious problem inflicts on children.  Specifically, I have seen children reject any and all benevolent advances by the estranged parent for reasons that border on the ludicrous.  It is not necessary to revisit the issue here other than to say that there are forceful and persuasive forces on both sides of this debate.  However, I think most would agree that any attempt at undermining the bond between a child and parent should not be tolerated.  Whether or not we classify parental alienation as a specific disorder has obvious implications to the Family Court, but is ultimately secondary to the emotional damage caused to families by parents who engage in perpetual battles with one another.

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