An Update on the DSM-V Campaign

Even with the counter-campaign against it declared by the National Organization for Women (NOW), the campaign started by Fathers & Families to support the inclusion of Parental Alienation in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) has been greatly successful.  The DSM, considered the diagnostic "bible" of the American Psychiatric Association's, is undergoing its fifth revision, and a group of 70 mental health experts from 12 countries are part of an effort to add Parental Alienation to this edition of the manual.
Fathers & Families, a renowned pro shared parenting organization, asked their members and sympathizers to send letters to the DSM-V Task Force in support of their effort, and so far, thousands have responded to their call.  Dr. Darrel Regier, vice chair of the task force, recently declared that their Task Force has "… gotten an enormous amount of mail -more than [on] any other issue."
To ensure that the Task Force understands the severity of Parental Alienation, Fathers & Families is urging its followers and every person concerned about our children well-being, to keep their enthusiasm and to keep on writing letters to the committee, telling their stories and explaining that Parental Alienation is a real mental health problem and needs to be taken seriously by our health and legal professionals.  You can do it through their website; to do so, click here.

The Parental Alienation Syndrome and the DSM-5 (2 of 2)

The DSM is an exhaustive bible used by psychiatrists, psychologists, family practitioners and other health professionals, to classify mental disorders. Now that its publishers are working on its fifth edition, or DSM-V, there is a movement to include Parental Alienation in it, a movement that includes among its members hundreds of mental health professionals, doctors, educators, family law professionals, and prominent citizens from 10 different countries. A team integrated by psychiatrist William Bernet, M.D., Wilfrid v. Boch-Galhau, M.D., Joseph Kenan, M.D., Joan Kinlan, M.D., Demosthenes Lorandos, Ph.D., J.D., Richard Sauber, Ph.D., Bela Sood, M.D., and James S. Walker, PhD, wrote a text titled “Parental Alienation Disorder and DSM-V”, in which they make the case for including Parental Alienation Disorder in DSM-V. Their proposal was submitted to the Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence Work Group in August of 2008.

If Parental Alienation is included in the DSM-V, it will have radical effects in the way this disorder is treated by insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, government, and academia. It will increase Parental Alienation’s recognition and legitimacy in the eyes of family court judges, mediators, custody evaluators, family law attorneys, and the legal and mental health community in general. According to the above mentioned William Bernet, adding Parental Alienation “would (…) lend credence to a charge of parental alienation in court, and raise the odds that children would get timely treatment.”

Fathers & Families is asking everyone to write the DSM-V Task Force to urge them to consider including Parental Alienation Disorder. Thanks to this effort, the Task Force has now listed Parental Alienation Disorder among the “Conditions Proposed by Outside Sources” that are under consideration to be included.

The Task Force welcomes comments that could provide evidence indicating that Parental Alienation should be included in DSM-V. People can send letters to the DSM-5 Task Force until the middle of 2010. In 2011 the issue will be considered; the DSM-5 will be written in 2012 and published in 2013. Fathers & Families advises that when you write your letters you should:

1)Keep the focus on your children and how the Parental Alienation has harmed them.

2)Stick to the facts related to the Parental Alienation.

3)Be succinct.

4)Fill in all fields on our form.

5)Be civil and credible, and avoid any profanity or use of insulting language.

6)Emphasize that Parental Alienation Disorder is a large-scale problem.

To send your letters through the Fathers & Families initiative, please click here.

The Parental Alienation Syndrome and the DSM-5 (1 of 2)

Fathers & Families, the pro-shared parenting organization, is leading a campaign to include Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in the fifth edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” or DSM-5 (Campaign: Ask DSM to Include Parental Alienation in Upcoming Edition). Before inviting my readers to join the campaign, I would like stop and give a brief explanation of what the Parental Alienation Syndrome is.

The Parental Alienation Syndrome or PAS is a mental disorder that appears during divorce/separation and/or child-custody disputes, and its primary symptom is the child’s unjustified rejection against the non-custodial parent. It grows out of the brainwashing performed by the custodial parent, who turns his or her children against the other parent, destroying this way the attachment between the children and the target parent. PAS is a very common and well-documented phenomenon. Estimates of children with PAS are close to 200,000 children in the U.S., the same amount as children with autism.

The child also contributes to the disorder, denigrating the alienated parent, while giving frivolous reasons for his or her behavior, insisting that he or she alone came up with the ideas towards the alienated parent, and feeling obligated to protect the alienating parent.

Dr. Douglas Darnall describes three categories of alienating parents:

-The naïve alienators (mild): They are ignorant of what they are doing and are willing to be educated and change.

-The active alienators (moderate): When they are triggered, they lose control of appropriate boundaries.

-The obsessed alienators (severe): They are committed to destroying the other parent’s relationship with the child.

For more information on PAS, please refer to the following books:

Douglas Darnall. Divorce Casualties: Protecting Your Children from Parental Alienation

Jayne A. Major. Parents Who Have Successfully Fought Parental Alienation Syndrome