Brats! Misbehaving children are everywhere. It is commonly believed that humans completely control their behavior - children who misbehave choose to do so - and that good parents can/should control their children’s behavior.
Bad behavior from children must equal bad parenting, or, thus goes the logic. While that may usually be the case, many times there is more going on than meets the eye, such as ADHD or other medical conditions.
Before judging the child who is throwing a fit in the grocery store - and his parents as well - people should consider that perhaps there is a medical reason for the child’s actions, that perhaps the child isn’t a brat with bad parents.
Medical Conditions Can Cause Bad Behavior
If an adult in the grocery store fell to the floor and began thrashing about, people would assume something was medically wrong with him - like a neurological problem. They would dial 911. If a child does anything outside accepted norms, nearly everyone assumes the child is a brat and his parents are deplorable.
Bad behavior in children normally doesn't prompt people to dial 911. Instead, it prompts them to talk about the child's “horrible” parents, and what should be done to the child. Most people don’t consider that just perhaps that child also has something medically wrong with him, like a neurological problem such as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or autism.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often causes problems in several brain systems, including an imbalance of neurotransmitters, chemicals found in the brain. Neurotransmitters affect many things; most notably here are the emotions and behavior. Neurotransmitter imbalances can make a child stubborn, unable to change his focus (he still wants that toy), and very emotional.
Other Medical Conditions That Can Affect Behavior
Children are victims of numerous physical, neurological and psychiatric conditions that affect their behavior. Any one of several conditions could be the cause of little Hector’s behavior, and none of them has anything to do with parenting.
The following are just some conditions, and just some of the ways those things can affect behavior. All of them have increased greatly in children in recent years, and Kenneth Bock, M.D., states in his book Healing the New Childhood Epidemics, that many children who have ADHD also have one or more of these conditions:
- Diabetes
- Bipolar Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Sleep Disorders
- Allergies or Sensitivities
How Can a Medical Problem Cause Bad Behavior in Children?
Diabetes:
- blood sugar fluctuations
- feeling very hungry or thirsty can cause a child not to listen and can make a child spacey, cranky, irritable, or prone to outbursts.
Bipolar Disorder: rapid cycling in children creates mood shifts and uncontrollable rages.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: problems in the limbic system of the brain lead to obsessions and compulsions, which can create very annoying behavior that is difficult or impossible to stop.
Sleep disorders: a chronic lack of good sleep leads to bouts of crankiness, uncooperativeness, and moodiness.
Allergies or Sensitivities: reactions can cause all kinds of unpredictable behavior, especially in those who have unidentified allergies and sensitivities. Many ingredients that cause reactions are hidden under many names, such as this list of names for dairy.
Misinformed People Deny Medical Conditions Affect Behavior
People who are not aware of the growing rates of food sensitivities and other verifiable medical conditions will claim that it's nothing more than poor parenting, and some still claim that certain conditions that affect behavior don't even exist, despite decades of scientific proof.
Brain scans show measurable structural and functional differences in the brains of people who have ADHD, for example, according to numerous credible sources, including the National Institutes on Health Publications #96-3572 and Stanford University. The National Institutes on Health further states that ADHD usually has nothing to do with parenting.
Many things cause bad behavior in children - permissive parenting that creates brats is one cause, but there are other causes. Poor parenting definitely does exist, but in many cases, it's not bad parenting, it's ADHD or another verifiable medical problem. Acting from that perspective and offering the stressed parent help - even if only in the form of a sympathetic smile - is far better than assuming the problem is caused by a brat who has bad parents. Some aren't, and who can say, unless they have performed a thorough medical workup on that child?
Jennifer Harshman - With more than 20 years of experience and education in her fields, she's also read more than one book for every day she has lived.
