RAD in adults?

Borderline Personality Disorder is RAD untreated. They will grow up to have no empathy, no conscience, no healthy relationships with others.

I have to add this too: Just because a young or older child has had attachment therapy; or any sort of therapies available to help with RAD issues and symptoms, doesn't mean that the child will 'heal'. When you wrote the part that stated, " if the child is not treated properly"...I felt I needed to state the above. I have (have had) a son with severe RAD from a very young age. He had just turned seven when he came to our home. We dealt with him and all of his issues for almost four years. He received attachment therapy, play therapy (at a younger age) EMDR sessions (until the psychiatric admissions became too frequent)....with no success. He lives in a residential facility now; and more than likely will always be institutionalized. My point is should anyone think that to adopt a child with RAD, would mean a good chance at 'curing that RAD'.........said parents need to read further and realize that it's not always the 'treatment'...but the desire of the child to want to 'heal' before acting more 'normally' than with RAD. It's a tough battle for everyone; and yes, there are many RAD adults walking around every day---some more severely affected than others. Just my two-cents.... Sincerely, Linny

Thanks Lorraine and Linny.

Effective treatment is available for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder and over 90% can and do "heal", with effective treatment (see, for example, "Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy in Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, which is a peer-reviewed professional journal...or see Creating Capacity for Attachment, edited by Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., & Deborah Shell, MA, OK: Wood 'N' Barnes, 2005). The studies found that Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy resulted in measureable improvements in the variables measures, all of which were in the normal range up to four years after treatment; while children in the control group who recieved other forms of treatment, such as family therapy, play therapy, etc., actually became measurable and statistically significantly worse. Without effective treatment, children with RAD are likely to develop any one of a variety of personality disorders, such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Sociopathic P.D., Narcissistic P.D., etc. regards