Parental alienation: the impact on men’s mental health
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Leo Sher
Abstract
Parental alienation is defined as a mental state in which a child, usually one whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict separation or divorce, allies himself strongly with one parent (the preferred parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the alienated parent) without legitimate justification. Parental alienation may affect men’s mental health: a) parental alienation negatively influences mental health of male children and adolescents who are victims of parental alienation. Alienated children/adolescents display guilt, sadness, and depressed mood; low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence; distress and frustration; lack of impulse control, substance abuse and delinquent behavior; separation anxiety, fears and phobias; hypochondria and increased tendency to develop psychosomatic illness; suicidal ideation and suicide attempt; sleep and eating disorders; educational problems; enuresis and encopresis; b) parental alienation negatively affects the mental health of adult men who were victims of parental alienation when they were children and/or adolescents. Long-term effects of parental alienation include low self-esteem, depression, drug/alcohol abuse, lack of trust, alienation from own children, divorce, problems with identity and not having a sense of belonging or roots, choosing not to have children to avoid being rejected by them, low achievement, anger and bitterness over the time lost with the alienated parent; c) parental alienation negatively influences mental health of men who are alienated from their children. Fathers who have lost some or all contact with their children for months or years following separation or divorce may be depressed and suicidal.
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©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
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- Effectiveness of group CBT in treating adolescents with depression symptoms: a critical review
- Mini Review
- Parental alienation: the impact on men’s mental health
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- Exploring the relationship difficulties of Iranian adolescents with conduct disorder: a qualitative content analysis
- How much gambling is too much? Identifying potential problem gambling among adolescents
- Adolescent’s perceptions of parental influences on physical activity
- An evaluation of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) athletes’ self-reported practice of playing while concussed, knowledge about and attitudes towards sports-related concussion
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Editorial
- More smoke... flavored or unflavored
- Review
- Effectiveness of group CBT in treating adolescents with depression symptoms: a critical review
- Mini Review
- Parental alienation: the impact on men’s mental health
- Original Articles
- Is parenting a determinant of adolescent mental health? – A population based study in South India
- Burnout, depression and anxiety in preclinical medical students: a cross-sectional survey
- Nutritional status, Healthy Eating Index and eating attitudes of the adolescents in Istanbul: a cross-sectional study
- Contingency management adapted for African-American adolescents with obesity enhances youth weight loss with caregiver participation: a multiple baseline pilot study
- Predictors of overweight and obesity among school going adolescents of Vadodara city in Western India
- Male Iranian adolescent’s reasons for having an other-gender friend
- Youth friendly health services in a rural community of Lagos, Nigeria: are the youths receptive?
- Risk and protective factors for adolescent substance use: a comparative study of secondary school students in rural and urban areas of Osun State, Nigeria
- Exploring the relationship difficulties of Iranian adolescents with conduct disorder: a qualitative content analysis
- How much gambling is too much? Identifying potential problem gambling among adolescents
- Adolescent’s perceptions of parental influences on physical activity
- An evaluation of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) athletes’ self-reported practice of playing while concussed, knowledge about and attitudes towards sports-related concussion
- Characterization of eating behavior disorders in school-aged children and adolescents: a population-based study
- Risk and protective profile of tobacco and alcohol use among Iranian adolescents: a population- based study
- An intervention crossing two types of action planning with mental simulation for the promotion of physical activity among adolescents
