Special Case of Type I PTSD: Rejected Children

Rejected Child from Wikipedia

Major Update: June 28, 2014

Introduction

What is a “rejected” child? It is the child who was unplanned, unwanted by the new mother, who is never accepted by the mother as her own until after the critical window of brain development closes at three years of age. Such a child suffers from what can be called Type I PTSD and will show some typical behaviors. The picture presented here is often the worst case scenario, but there are clearly some cases in the news which are relevant. Rejection at any age can be devastating. However, one can reasonably deduce that the earlier it takes place the worse its effects are on a person. It can be safely assumed that rejection before the age of three will have the strongest and most lasting effects. There are many people who will suffer PTSD from being rejected by one or both parents and/or family who will display similar symptoms.

There are several types of rejection. There are children who reject one of their parents, generally because of the trauma associated with divorce when one parent wins the affection of the child and the other parent loses. Some children reject a parent because they perceive that this parent committed an unforgivable act. More than likely, no single event leads to that kind of rejection, but the culmination of a series of behaviors that finally breaks the parent-child bond. One of these events may be associated with the failure of a good parent-child bond from having been formed in the first place.

For more discussion on this topic see my blog post  Types of PTSD.