More About Reactive Attachment Disorder: "The Boarder" Movie

I’ve mentioned misconceptions about Reactive Attachment Disorder many times before on this blog. But it would seem that it’s possible to promulgate myths and misunderstandings on this topic a lot faster than I or anyone else can correct them.

A new example of the spread of misconceptions about Reactive Attachment Disorder is the movie “The Boarder”, created by Jane Ryan and based on her book “Broken Spirits, Lost Souls: Loving Children with Attachment and Bonding Difficulties” (iUniverse Star, 2004). (Incidentally, iUniverse is a “professional self-publishing” company rather than a traditional publisher that sends manuscripts for expert review before accepting them.) “Broken Spirits, Lost Souls” includes a foreword by Foster Cline, the well-known advocate of holding therapy and proponent of the belief that “all bonding is trauma bonding”; following the surrender of his medical license, Cline became a self-proclaimed expert on child psychopathology and effective parenting. “Broken Spirits” begins with unsubstantiated claims about the increasing incidence of Reactive Attachment Disorder and describes cases of teenagers planning Columbine-like massacres as if this behavior is caused by Reactive Attachment Disorder. It goes on to quote with approval the ideas of advocates of holding therapy like Martha Welch.

www.theboardermovie.com/what_is_rad.html provides a page that purports to offer definitions and descriptions of Reactive Attachment Disorder. In fact, its answers to the question “what is RAD?” are a mélange of accurate and inaccurate statements. Curiously, there is a link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_attachment_disorder, a Wikipedia featured article which in fact I wrote much of myself. But much of what is argued on the “Boarder” page is highly questionable. One inaccurate statement is that Reactive Attachment Disorder was once rare but is no longer so, as the number of children affected by neglect or abuse is rising “exponentially”; neither of these claims is supportable by evidence, nor is there necessarily a connection between them.

The author of the “what is RAD?” page-- presumably Ryan or a colleague—states that one possible cause of Reactive Attachment Disorder is separation from primary caregivers in the first 33 months of life, “including while in utero”. This is far from accurate, and is of special concern because of its implications about the developmental effects of adoption. While unpredictable and unresponsive care are factors in the development of Reactive Attachment Disorder and other problems like language delays, separation in the first six months does not appear to be problematic. Abrupt long-term separation after 6-8 months, when attachment emotions and behavior emerge, is associated with intense grief and other emotional reactions for a period of some months, but care by normally responsive and consistent caregivers facilitates recovery and the outcome does not involve Reactive Attachment Disorder.

Ryan (or her colleague) goes on to say that the “criteria for a diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder are more severe and pronounced than the criteria used in the assessment or categorization of other Attachment Disorder styles such as insecure or disorganized attachment”. This statement shows a complete misunderstanding of the nature of Reactive Attachment Disorder and the concept of attachment styles (not Attachment Disorder styles). In “Broken Spirits”, Ryan makes it clear that she believes Reactive Attachment Disorder is shown through the checklist so often presented by proponents of holding therapy/Attachment Therapy-- the fascination with blood and gore, the “crazy lying”, fire-setting, animal torture, sexual molestation of other children, etc., etc.

These “symptoms” are completely non-overlapping with the description of Reactive Attachment Disorder given on the “what is RAD?” page, with any description in DSM or ICD, and certainly, as I can attest, with the linked Wikipedia article. Such child behaviors do occur, sad to say, but they are not aspects of Reactive Attachment Disorder. To claim them as signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder is like saying that because some (unimmunized) children do get an illness that involves swelling of glands in the neck, that kind of swelling should be called chickenpox. Understanding and treatment of mumps would be much lessened in effectiveness if the disease was assumed to be the same as chickenpox, and in the same way understanding and treatment of disorders like early-onset schizophrenia would be lessened by assuming that its symptoms were indications of Reactive Attachment Disorder.

Some readers may find it unimportant whether Ryan speaks of “Attachment Disorder styles” or “attachment styles”. In fact, the difference is an important one. To say “Attachment Disorder styles” implies incorrectly that a wide variety of psychopathologies are based on attachment problems, and that the standard Reactive Attachment Disorder is only one among them. Describing insecure attachment as an “attachment style” communicates corrrectly that this type of attachment behavior is in the normal range of development. Some have even argued that there may be social and family situations where insecure attachment is healthier and more appropriate than secure attachment. Disorganized attachment may be a normal response of toddlers to temporary family dysfunctions like divorce and custody disagreements, and a return to more stable relationships may enable the disorganized child to return to a better attachment style. (However, some methods of assessing attachment do not even use the “disorganized” concept, and it is not a basic part of Bowlby’s attachment theory.)

Will “The Boarder” ever be released? The web site indicates that contributions of money are needed to make this possible, and I have little doubt that it will occur. There are quite a number of quasi-professional therapists who benefit greatly from the spread of the inaccurate beliefs presented in Ryan’s book. Regrettably, there are also many parents-- especially those who have adopted-- who will rush to have their expectations confirmed by Ryan’s book and movie.

Meanwhile, those of us who know something about early development had better do our best to argue against these false and potentially harmful beliefs.