We know because we adopted a Russian orphanage child.
Reactive Attachment Disorder is almost universal among these kids. RAD persists into young adulthood and, as far an anybody knows, forever. Researchers now say the early childhood deprivation causes measurable, structural brain damage, a profound atrophy of the neural pathways necessary for the development of empathy, trust, emotional warmth, curiosity about others, desire to communicate, responsiveness, and loyalty.
Babies and young children need physical closeness and lots of it. It does not end up making them dependent: it ends up making them confident. When their emotional needs are fulfilled, they are not afraid to venture out into their next levels of development.
The stories I could tell.
This theory has been around since Dr. Spock (1946) and probably much longer. There have always been crabby people who are eager to accuse parents of “spoiling” their children. Considering that the damage is permanent and severe, what is being done to our society by these 40% of children who are brain-damaged?
No wonder 1.3 million women each year are capable of killing their own babies—58 million so far. And we have one-and-a-half major political parties who don’t think 58 million is enough.
(I remember a caller to Dr. Laura who said her husband would get mad when she picked up her child, because it would “spoil” him. Dr. Laura said, “You spoil children by giving them everything they want or letting them do everything they want. You cannot spoil a child by picking him up, or hugging him.”)
I have long felt that preachers don’t preach (and don’t even KNOW) about most of the evil their people are doing. This is a perfect example. People are destroying their own children, and will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER hear from the pulpit a word about it.
99.999% of Confessions are “I gossiped, I lied, I missed my prayers.” And these are the people, a tiny minority, who go to Confession. Meanwhile, children are being destroyed in the crib, and later, in schools.
((((HUGS))))
I hope your adopted son is doing well, dear Mrs. Don-o.
I think about you often.
Thank you for the evidence you posted.