Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-5-17
pubmed:abstractText
This paper suggests that the behaviours associated with the formal diagnosis of the "disinhibited" form of reactive attachment disorder (RAD) might be seen as a functional adaptation rather than a mental health problem, a facultative response enhancing the probability of survival that is triggered by certain conditions. Although disinhibited RAD is most commonly observed in institutionalised children, similar behaviours may also be a part of the emotional difficulties displayed by some fostered and adopted children (the latter includes those once institutionalised), and these may demonstrate not so much a discrete attachment disorder as either the need to fend for oneself following loss of dedicated caregiving or a lack of opportunity to build specific intimate relationships with dedicated caregivers. In many cases this may be inextricably mixed with the neurobiological and psychological seqelae of maltreatment. Indiscriminate attachment behaviour, from this proposed evolutionary perspective, is less a syndrome of mental ill-health than an astute survival manoeuvre following being orphaned, abandoned or fecklessly reared. Such a response, allied to the innate facility to access caregiving from different adults, could be expected to be initiated by specific events as are the other attachment configurations. Classing disinhibited RAD as an adaptation has implications for helping children brought up under extreme duress when their caregiving environment has changed for the better.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
1469-2988
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
12
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
265-81
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2010
pubmed:articleTitle
Reactive attachment disorder as an evolutionary adaptation.
pubmed:affiliation
Secure Start, Gloucestershire, UK. robin.balbernie@tiscali.co.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article