Amy J.L. Baker, author of Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Breaking the Ties that Bind, says that the adult children of parental alienation interviewed for her book reported problems with depression. Baker writes:

"The majority of the adult children of PAS also suffered from significant episodes of depression in their adult lives. They believed that their depression was rooted in early feelings of being unloved by the targeted parent and from the actual extended separation from that parent.

"Nancy, an older woman whose mother died when she was just two months old, provided a particularly poignant example of this. At the time of the mother’s death, her father was having difficulty caring for five children while holding down a full-time job that required him to be away from the home on alternating weeks. For this reason, he agreed to let his sister raise the baby.

"This aunt, whom Nancy called Mommy, subsequently alienated her from her father. She prevented visitation, denigrated him to her, and let it be known that any preference for the father would be disloyal, hurtful, and not tolerated. Consequently, Nancy only saw her father a few times a year despite the fact that he lived less than an hour away. Not only did she lose her mother from an early death but she lost her father as well. Because the loss of her father was unnecessary, she was particularly bitter.

“'You lose your mother and you lose your father and you’re alone. I always felt alone.'

"Carl explained his experience with depression as having a hole in his soul. 'And it is not something you can physically point to and say here it is but you know it is there.'

"Serita, a woman whose mother pushed her father out of her life said that not only did she lose her father because her mother made visitation impossible but she also felt that she had lost her mother because of the conflict that ensued between them over Serita’s relationship with her father. 'I think I lost two parents. I think the way she handled it was incredibly naïve. She assumed that we would reject her for our father especially me because I had such a strong bond with him. She was scared of that rejection. I don’t know if I am depressed but there are times when I can’t function. I can’t get out of bed or I can’t do work and I am out for days and it is really difficult.'”

To learn more about Parental Alienation, click here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 at 1:06 am and is filed under Fatherhood, Parental Alienation/PAS, Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Gender Issues (Misc.), Child Abuse. You can trackback from your own site.