Reactive Attachment Disorder in Defiant Teens
As kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) become adolescents, the outward issues change, but the root causes are the same: inability to form intimate reciprocal relationships or to empathize, inability to trust, and lack of conscience. These traits may manifest in varying degrees and forms. Adolescence is a time when even healthy teens are seeking approval of others. The teenager with Reactive Attachment Disorder has a great gaping hole, an intense craving for love and approval, but doesn't believe it can be genuine when it is given. Relationships are more like contracts: I give you this if you give me that (e.g., a young female will have sex in order to have the status of having a boyfriend, or a young male will be friendly in order to have privileges of sharing another's games). The RAD child may steal from her friends or mom or dad in order to get what she wants. The child will lie in order to keep receiving the benefits of a relationship. These characteristic