Parental alienation syndrome is a term created by Psychiatrist Richard Gardner in the early 1980s. He named it to refer to a phenomenon he was seeing in children of separated parents.

In particular, these children systematically offend one of their parents and express decreasing ratings for him/her mainly because of the brainwashing they receive from the other parent.

There is also a continuous attempt to defame and accuse the other parent without any particular reason. According to Gardner, we are not just talking about slanderous defamation of one parent but about a complete cut off physically and emotionally from the child.

After many investigations carried out by Lawyers and Psychologists in children of divorced families, they concluded that this phenomenon is a syndrome deeply rooted in their psyche. It may appear in mild, moderate and brisk form. In the heavy form the child does not want any contact with the other parent, there is a terrible aversion, that in some cases even becomes terrible, without feeling guilty about it.

In recent years, this phenomenon has become increasingly perceptible in children who are denied access to the other parent. Usually the parent who has the care and custody of the child manages to alienate the child from the other parent with devastating consequences. That is why those authorities who come into contact with these children must know this phenomenon and take it into account in making decisions about parenting meetings.

The main symptoms for this syndrome are:

• marked anxiety,
• depression,
• nervousness,
• indifference to the other parent by canceling meetings and not accepting gifts,
• hostility and aggression.

The results of clinical research in these children indicate that it is very likely that minors suffer from severe anxiety, low self-esteem and psychosomatic disorders in their lives. They are also likely to have difficulty in establishing good interpersonal relationships and later to be bothered about their behavior by depression.

In addition, when in older age they realize it all, they are likely to turn against the other parent with accusations for this result. All of this creates a great inner inconvenience for the child that starts from childhood and sometimes keeps up to the adult life with incalculable consequences. That is why it is important for all mental health professionals and all those related to children of divorced parents to have this syndrome at the edge of their minds.