Parental alienation syndrome refers to a child cold shouldering a parent. Read on to know more about the parental alienation syndrome and its symptoms.

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Parental Alienation Syndrome

If there’s one thing that is true about the parent alienation syndrome, it’s that there’s nothing parental about it. The term ‘parental alienation syndrome’, abbreviated as PAS, was first coined by Richard .A. Gardener in the 1980s. The syndrome basically can be described as a disorder in which a child is frequently alienated from one parent, humiliates and is disrespectful to the ‘one parent’. This disorder is most common amongst children who are party to parents who are divorced and dealing with the whole issue of the custody of the child. Sometimes however, the syndrome can also affect children who live with much married parents. In such a situation, the child will be brainwashed into hating or being indifferent towards a particular parent mainly because of the other parent’s hatred for the latter. If you believe you are a subject to the parent alienation syndrome or know someone who is, read on to discover the symptoms that can help you confirm if it really is the syndrome.

Parental Alienation Syndrome Symptoms 

  • The child who has been taught to alienate or avoid interaction with a parent will lack independent thinking. He/she will not be able to think and act by himself/herself. The thoughts and actions of the child will only mirror the intentions of the alienating parent.
  • The alienating parent will make extraordinary efforts to prevent the child from maintaining communication with the alienated parent. Efforts can range from preventing the child from speaking on the phone to not allowing the child to even meet with the alienated parent.
  • The child heaps insults on the alienated parent, humiliates him or her and is generally disrespectful in front of the alienator. This really is a classic symptom of the parent alienation syndrome because the child has been conditioned to hate and show disdain towards the particular parent.
  • The child destroys or refuses presents from the parent who is being alienated. In rare cases, the child will not even read the letters or mails he/she gets from the alienated parent.
  • Sometimes children being as smart as they are will realize that the alienated parent is not really as bad as he or she is being made to seem. However, out of a morbid fear for the alienator they will not admit their love or make an exhibit of how they really feel about the alienated parent.
  • The child will begin to use words and statements that are commonly used by the alienator. The words and statements used will also seem very unbecoming of the child and more becoming of the alienator. This will be more than obvious for the parent who is being alienated and anyone else who interacts frequently with the child.
  • The alienated parent will be an easy target. He or she will be blamed for everything that has gone wrong with the child, in spite of the two barely getting to meet each other.
  • In rare cases, the name of the child will be changed to that of the alienator’s choosing, or to the name of a person the alienator has started a relationship with.
  • The child will be allowed to spend long hours with friends, playing video games or spend a lot of time on any other such activity as long as he/she spends as less time as possible with the alienated parent.
  • The alienator, along with the child, moves away to a location which makes it extremely difficult for the alienated parent to visit- one of the most obvious symptoms of the parent alienation syndrome!

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