Parallels between parental emotional abuse and psychological iatrogenic harm
| Parental emotional abuse | Iatrogenic psychological harm |
|---|---|
| Inadequate parental attachment | Inadequate protection of parental attachment |
| Poor attunement to children's feelings | Poor attunement to children's feelings |
| ▶ Poor personal foundations, drugs, alcohol | ▶ Pre-established assumptions |
| ▶ Fatigue, distractability, stress | ▶ Fatigue, over-work, stress |
| ▶ Inadequate availability to the child | ▶ Lack of time to listen, discontinuity |
| Unregulated stress | Unregulated stress |
| ▶ Fear | ▶ Fear |
| ▶ Chaos and unpredictability | ▶ Ineffective explanation |
| ▶ Pain inflicted by care-givers | ▶ Uncontrolled pain; pain inflicted by care-givers |
| ▶ Stressed parents…stressed child | ▶ Stressed doctors…stressed child |
| Authoritarianism; excessive control | Over-reliance on professional status to assert control |
| Lack of mutual trust | Failure to establish trust |
| Inappropriate roles (eg, parental child) | ‘Befriending’ |
| Inadequate boundaries | Unboundaried empowerment |
| Parents' needs overriding those of the child | Systems over-riding individual needs |
| Inappropriate expectations of the child | Talking over children; misjudging their understanding |
| Failure to promote self-esteem | Inadequate protection of self-esteem |
| ▶ Criticism | ▶ Implied criticism and blame |
| ▶ Misattribution of behaviour | ▶ Disbelief; psychological misattribution |
| ▶ Lack of praise | ▶ Insufficient acknowledgment of effort |
| ▶ Failure to teach social skills | ▶ Inadequate care to protect peer relationships |
| ▶ Confused identity | ▶ Insufficient explanation for a coherent narrative |
| Poor role model for coping strategies | Insufficient or stigmatising psychological provision |
| Personal boundaries | Privacy |
| ▶ Inappropriate household norms | ▶ Overlooking developmental and cultural needs |
| ▶ Sexual abuse | ▶ Inadequate explanation of intimate examination |
| Parental lack of insight into the effect of their behaviour | Overlooking the effects of professional assumptions, systems, behaviour |