REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER

What is Attachment Disorder/Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)?

The exposure to stress with some children has been so significant that they stand outside of any category of severity. These children give trauma a new definition. Most are or have been in foster care, have had repeated life or death experiences, have had several changes in caregivers, all have suffered from some form of emotional, sexual, or physical abuse, and generally they have never been successfully treated. The most popular term for these children is Attachment Disorder, however, most have received every diagnosis available for severe emotional and behavioral disturbances ranging from attention-deficit hyperactivity to bi-polar and depression. In addition, most have received various combinations of psychotropic medication. (Post, 2001)

Children with reactive attachment disorder see the world differently than we do.  For these children, life is a constant threat. Such threats can be interpreted through all manner of sensory stimulation. In other words, a sight, sound, smell, taste, or elevation in body temperature can trigger such children into an overwhelming fear state. Because they were unable to develop the necessary ability to calm this fear early in life, they may become violently reactive in this state. It is of little consequence that a new home may provide love, security, and nurturance when such children become frightened. This frightening event is oftentimes not observed by the parent because the brains of such children are hypersensitive and highly reactive. It can and generally does occur within a millisecond and may build up throughout the course of a day, week, or month, presenting as a violent and long-lasting outburst, or period of complete disconnection and dissociation. Even children who have been adopted into a home at a very young age may have already experienced significant enough trauma to impact development and stress response. Biological children who suffer a separation from their primary caregiver due to illness, etc. can be equally impacted if the event is traumatic or overly-stressful.

In the past Attachment Disorder has been defined in very damaging and ill-perceived ways. Such statements as, "The unattached child literally does not have a stake in humanity," "They do not think and feel like a normal person," or "At the core of the unattached is a deep-seated rage, far beyond normal anger (Magid & McKelvey 1988)." The child with an attachment disorder having experienced past significant trauma is tremendously impaired in his ability to calm down. In other words, he is unable to calm the interworkings of his brain and body system responsible for effective stress hormone discharge and soothing. This state is trauma induced and is the brain and body’s natural fear reaction gone awry. In this manner, the fetus, infant, or child is product to an overly stressful environment or event attributing to extreme fear sensitivity (Post, 2001).

Attachment | The Stress Response
Symptoms of RAD | Potential causes of RAD