PTSD from adoption?

Gershom

The Casey Foundation did a study on former foster youth in Washington and Oregon and found their rate of PTSD to be twice that of the rate of the US Vietnam war veterans.

I know its on their site somewhere, but I'm so tired, i'm just going to post the site, and those curious can find it themselves:

http://www.casey.org/AboutCasey/

**************************************...

Now thats on foster care youth and not adoptees. But adoptees have been found to have it too. And not just domestic adoptees, international adoptees as well. If you go to foster care alumnis website they say that international adoptees are said to have the same degree of PTSD "issues" ( i hate the word issues because I don't think these are issues at the fault of the child, these are surviving mechanisms so that they don't die from the state of trauma and shock ) as the foster youth. Again, thats TWICE the rate of the vietnam vets.

Some online aliiances of mine are working on this project called "adopted the movie" and they have this youtube video out on PTSD and adoptees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ztjNlY4j6Q

Nancy Verrier the adoptive parent who wrote "primal wound" hands this handout at her presentations and speakings:
http://www.nancyverrier.com/misc.php <<< she absolutely talks about PTSD in infants JUST from the loss of mother.

Again, if someone doesn't believe this happens to infants, they just haven't researched it enough. They just don't know. It exists and anyone who says it doesn't, hasn't done the research. Which isn't an insult to them, they just don't know.

LaurieDB

Any traumatic event at any time in a person's life may be a precipitating factor in PTSD. Relinquishment/adoption is no different. The separation of a child from her mother at the time when that bond is vital would be a traumatic event. Considering that people become more independent as they get older, therefore are more dependent when younger, perhaps it's even more traumatic the younger a person is.

No doubt people would find it traumatic for someone if her mother died in childbirth or shortly after. Why people view separation due to relinquishment for adoption any differently, I don't know. Someone who's mother dies in childbirth will still be raised by a family -- most likely her own family, so it's not like the child will be an orphan. So, to say that the relinquished child will be adopted into a new family makes up for it doesn't fit. Loss cannot be erased.

Freckle Face

I'm not familiar with the signs of ptsd and i'm no expert but i would tend to believe that its true.

Kim

I think it's entirely possible. I know a number of adoptees who have an official PTSD diagnosis.

Gaia Raain

I'm a very sensitive person. Always have been. I've had PTSD from...well, let's just say at least one of the items you mentioned, and others you haven't. I can almost guarantee that if I had been adopted, at birth or any other age, I would have started my little PTSD career a little earlier.

Why is it so hard for some people to believe that being separated from your mother is traumatic? Why don't you read about this stuff? Do you all know there are studies that prove that being separated from your mother is traumatic? Did you know that babies experience EVERYTHING their mother experiences, while they're still in the womb? Did you know that some children can be BORN with attachment disorders, because their mother was emotionally detached from them while they were pregnant?

Yes. It happens. Get used to it.

ETA: Gershom, I LOVED this (from the first link you provided) "Casey Family Programsâ€™ mission is to provide and improveâ€”and ultimately to prevent the need forâ€”foster care." I always appreciate others who are trying to work themselves out of a job. Them's good people.

a healing adoptee

I probably did have it when i was little. I only say this, because i would throw screaming fits whenever mya-mom left the room. in my little mind i thought she was leaving me too. it took some time for me to understand that she was there to stay.

Jennifer L

I think it's possible. However, there's PTSD and then there's PTSD.

It is normal to feel fear, anxiety and anger after a single traumatic event in your life, like a car crash or a single rape event. Most people seek and receive counseling to reconcile the events, then move on. It doesn't dominate every aspect of their lives.

OTOH, there are those who suffered years of abuse/neglect, people coming home from war, long-term domestic violence victims and other prolonged experiences of trauma, rather than a single event. The "flight or fight" instinct gets turned on and left on, so that high energy adreneline feeling is constant. This has a significantly longer recovery period with often more intensive therapy and intervention needed in order to resume control over their lives.

( Side tangent: Small wonder that so many children with a history of abuse are misdiagnosed with ADHD and people can't figure out why the treatment fails?)

So, I could put adoption PTSD in the first catagory, but I honesty don't think the event of adoption alone would qualify it for the second. I have read studies about attachment disorders happening in-utero, but I don't know if there is enough empirical data out there to qualify the theory. Basically, human beings are pretty resiliant. We survive, we adapt, we adjust. I think it's possible, but I won't say that every child who was adopted can carry the diagnosis of PTSD.

opedial

I think any child can develop PTSD from adoption. It is up to the adoptive parents at that time to provide as much supports as possible.

I will again state that I don't feel I caused the loss of the child, but will have to deal with the loss and support the child (emotionally) for the rest of their life.

If a parent can parent then they parent but I still can't support the idea that any birthmom is going to be a good parent. If they (without coersion which clearly in the states is a problem) decide they cannot parent then they deal with that fact and make choices.

momof3boys

I would believe it for older adopted children as it would be hard on them but for those adopted as babies it would probably be very rare to happen because if they are raised in a loving home with good parents then the adoption isn't as big a factor, I do know people who were adopted and those that came from loving homes all said the same thing that they were so loved that they were chosen and that they would like to know where they came from biologically but that their parents are their parents. But have seen children adopted later (after age 3) that do show PTSD signs and have problems and see it as a traumatic experience or atleast very overwhelming.

melmac

Rape & being burglarized, etc. IMO is a completely different kind of trauma just for the fact that those are offenses against people rooted from malice. I tend to think that most people looking for a child to love is well- intentioned(I did say "most", obviously you know from experience that there are bad AP's out there.) I also think that the birth mother giving up her baby is not doing it to be mean to her child. She may just be scared, naive, not ready, ill- informed(ignorant of her real options), duped by a third party(not necessarily an AP), too young, or just doesn't feel she can handle it. I think the trauma comes from how the information is handled within the family. If they treated you different, lied, let others treat you different, didn't make you feel special, etc...

I know a guy who was raised by his bio dad & step-mom, but he actually believed she was his biological mother(like his younger brother) until they told him the truth at 16. He was devastated & went through a trauma(ran away across the country to search her out.) He never knew, his mother had left when he was a baby. He met his real mom after that. They have a relationship now though difficult in the start. He's moved on with his life & now has a family of his own. He has made his peace with all of them.

I believe it is just as possible for an adopted child to experience PTSD as a bio child if that child ended up being raised by horrible parents. We don't get to pick our parents regardless, it's all in the luck of the draw I guess. I'm sorry you were adopted by bad people, the best thing you can do is get some therapy because it seems this issue rules you(to say you have PTSD, anyone experiencing this ought seek help- no way to live & may relieve symptoms.) Hope you reconnect with your birth family & that they are everything you hoped for. Move forward in your life & find happiness within yourself. You can't change the past, but you can focus on the future. Best wishes to you

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: