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Impact on parental mental health of PDA

46 replies

JekyllHyde · 04/02/2026 20:15

Put this in SN teens and no response so thought I would see if anyone else’s mental health is being impacted by their kids conditions

I have a dd14 with adhd and the PDA is coming out in force. Mornings are like walking a tightrope trying not to say the wrong thing!
I’ve been speaking with a parenting coach who is helping me understand her and how to parent her but it’s so tough. And that’s before we even get on to my son. My mental health is through the floor but just gritting my teeth and trying to get on with it.
anyone else sympathise? I feel quite lonely tbh

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Funnywonder · 05/02/2026 10:53

I have a son who hasn’t attended school for almost two years due to OCD. His last therapist suspected possible ASD (like his brother), but has now left and we’re waiting for a new one. I know it’s not the same as PDA, but it’s similar from the point of view of that awful feeling of always trying to say the right thing, in the right tone of voice, to avoid a reaction that could just tip everything over the edge. I’m a complete wreck and find that I have very little patience and am constantly on high alert. My brain is scrambled. I always say I’m like Hyacinth Bucket’s next door neighbour, in the sense that she was always terrified of sitting in the wrong place or lifting the wrong cup or spilling her tea. Except it isn’t funny.

So, solidarity from meFlowers

pencilcaseandcabbage · 05/02/2026 10:54

JekyllHyde · 05/02/2026 10:34

Thank you

I’ve just been speaking with the parenting coach and she made that point - rather than being upset she didn’t go on one day this week, be happy she made the other 3 and build on that.

i know we will get there and DD has so much to offer. It can just feel hopeless at times

i I suspect I may be the one with autism in our parenting couple though!!

Oh absolutely be proud and happy that she made 3 days - that's brilliant! The drive from schools for perfect attendance does kids and families like ours no favours at all. DDs attendance at secondary ranged from 70% to 30%, but she came out of there with good exam results, and that's what counts. Just relaxing about it all really makes everything so much better, and if you can persuade school to help rather than hinder, then all the better. But definitely celebrate those positives.

We think DH has autism and I have ADHD (at least, the psychologist thinks I do). We have been seeing her now on and off for nearly 10 years. If you can find someone good like that it could really help. Ours is private but not too expensive. We aim to see her every 4 weeks or so, when needed, and pay about £120 an hour.

Newyearnewmewoooop · 05/02/2026 10:55

I have ended up having to take leave of my job as my mental health has been so badly affected by my DDs behaviour. 3 tweens all with autism, adhd and one also has PDA. It’s hard, sending sympathy

JekyllHyde · 05/02/2026 11:08

Newyearnewmewoooop · 05/02/2026 10:55

I have ended up having to take leave of my job as my mental health has been so badly affected by my DDs behaviour. 3 tweens all with autism, adhd and one also has PDA. It’s hard, sending sympathy

Last week I was at such a low point I thought about taking time away from work but it’s the only time I can switch my brain away from the troubles at home so as long as I can get on with it and not mess up I’ll continue

its so hard to put your own oxygen mask on first when everyone screaming in your face and grabbing at it!!!

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Twinkletopz · 05/02/2026 11:11

JekyllHyde · 05/02/2026 10:34

Thank you

I’ve just been speaking with the parenting coach and she made that point - rather than being upset she didn’t go on one day this week, be happy she made the other 3 and build on that.

i know we will get there and DD has so much to offer. It can just feel hopeless at times

i I suspect I may be the one with autism in our parenting couple though!!

Or even the bar could be that things didn’t escalate to a full melt down which in my house we were reverberating from for many painful days after even when it was silent.

Better emotional regulation is your only goal for her IMHO. Track that privately. How many outburts today? What weee they on a scale of one to ten. What was happening before, during and after the incident? Etc

Once it starts to improve and becomes her normal foundational emotional state she will be able to achieve anything at her own pace. Education can come later. It helped me to see the outbursts as weather. This storm will pass over - I need to protect myself from it - visually go indoors and watch the storm through a window so you don’t get bounced around. Then go back out afterwards when it’s calm to assess the damage - but it was futile and counterproductive to fight, lock horns and try to control the storm.

This situation has a huge impact on the whole family system - marriage, siblings, family time. Even extended family - my sisters told me not to bring her along to their homes even though she had cousins there the same age that she loved because DD couldn’t cope with me talking to my sisters and would goad and harass me. My other children suffered when we were trying to constantly fire fight. One just sloped off another got wound up with her - her younger sister was another target of her bullying.

The emotional dysfunction flew around the family like a pin ball machine - and I will admit that she was highly sensitive to and triggered by my own emotions which I thought were undetectable but my clenched jaw said it all. I had PND after her birth also lost my mother and had a really bad peri-menopause, 4 kids, high powered job and a shit marriage - also (still) untreated ADHD. I also had unrealistic high expectations of my DC as both my DH and myself were high achievers. I had brilliant therapy for my childhood trauma and the shit marriage and as I was emotionally supported and growing in emotional capacity the relationship with my DD improved as well.

Things are loads better now - she is a delightful 25 year old who eventually went to uni and has a great job. She lives a very organised life and this environment supports her. She is looking for an ASD diagnosis and I can reflect that my ADHD family and career set up was chaos for her. We have a great relationship now we understand each other - our limitations and our gifts. On holiday recently they all played a game to use 2 words to describe each other. She described me as comical and compassionate. I’ll take that as I have been consumed with how I was a shit parent.

Think my message is shore up and grow your own emotional development, understanding and capacity of yourself and this will implicitly filter back to her.

pencilcaseandcabbage · 05/02/2026 11:24

Funnywonder · 05/02/2026 10:53

I have a son who hasn’t attended school for almost two years due to OCD. His last therapist suspected possible ASD (like his brother), but has now left and we’re waiting for a new one. I know it’s not the same as PDA, but it’s similar from the point of view of that awful feeling of always trying to say the right thing, in the right tone of voice, to avoid a reaction that could just tip everything over the edge. I’m a complete wreck and find that I have very little patience and am constantly on high alert. My brain is scrambled. I always say I’m like Hyacinth Bucket’s next door neighbour, in the sense that she was always terrified of sitting in the wrong place or lifting the wrong cup or spilling her tea. Except it isn’t funny.

So, solidarity from meFlowers

Sympathies - we do still have some of this but nothing like as bad as it was. That feeling of walking on eggshells all the time. I might drink my drink wrong, or use a slightly wrong word, or try to tidy something that just had to be left in that particular spot, and cause a strop or a meltdown. It's utterly exhausting, that 'on edge' feeling the whole time. But for us it really has got so much better. And we are all so much better at communicating. DD is able to say "mum, I need you to not do X in front of me" and I try and remember and make adjustments. Or we treat it as problem solving where we each say what we want and talk it through to find a joint solution. It's so much better if they can talk to you, but I know that many kids just can't yet.

WindyW · 05/02/2026 14:36

Honestly this thread is really uplifting. The online resources are so grim. So nice to see kids coming out the other side of the school / puberty maelstrom with a bit more capacity.

Twinkletopz · 05/02/2026 15:04

WindyW · 05/02/2026 14:36

Honestly this thread is really uplifting. The online resources are so grim. So nice to see kids coming out the other side of the school / puberty maelstrom with a bit more capacity.

It really helps me to understand my DD as about 5/6 years emotionally behind…..but making progress each year. I found totally changing my expectations and making environmental and relational adaptations (and protecting and improving my own emotional capacity, adaptability, resilience etc) took the tension out and gave her the space to learn to respond appropriately rather than react impulsively.

I would also say to @JekyllHydethat all your old friends will be going through some challenges with their own DCs. I would be trusting so you get support, release and energy from friendships. Some of the hyper achieving girls from my DD group were struggling behind the scenes with ED, depression, social issues. Life is very challenging for teenagers and their parents - you are not alone.

JekyllHyde · 05/02/2026 15:10

No - but I have a son who doesn’t leave his room while all the others are at uni and a daughter who has been asked to leave two schools and is repeating a year while all her peers do exams this year.

so whilst their kids may be going through stuff they certainly don’t admit to it and it’s not quite so obvious and I just can’t bear the sympathetic half smile

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BrokenGran · 05/02/2026 20:58

I was surprised by how successful it was to offer ten pence in her gohenry card for each task each day, rather than outright ask. eg clear plates off her desk i to the kitchen, dirty clothes to utility.

It was instant reward, and quite funny to see her think up tasks for herself. She loved seeing the money appear almost instantly. And because I usually texted it rather than spoke or (horror of horrors) looked in her direction, she decided for herself whether to bother.

JekyllHyde · 05/02/2026 21:03

Sadly bribery/paying has the opposite impact on mine - it’s almost like ‘oh you’ll pay me if I do a chore well Ha, jokes on you because I won’t do any!’

the biting her nose off is so frustrating!!!

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JekyllHyde · 13/02/2026 18:39

Well today we have had two massive meltdowns/panic attacks and I am just so stressed I end up losing it with her. I’m so sick of being blamed for every little thing g that goes wrong and because I don’t help her (I don’t know how when she’s listing problems at me but won’t even discuss) and then I lose it so I’m the bad person. We now have a hole punched through a painting and a box of Lego thrown all over the house.

I wish I could run away

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christmasoverwhelm · 13/02/2026 18:52

Im sorry, it sounds like a really bad day. Something must be going on in the background that’s tipped her over today. Half term tiredness, the prospect of half term, illness pending, something at school…

She must feel safe at home to be able to let it out. So draining for everyone though..

JekyllHyde · 13/02/2026 18:59

I think it’s because we are going on holiday tomorrow and she’s running out of make up

i just don’t know if I can go on. I feel like I’m not helping anyone so what’s the point

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WindyW · 13/02/2026 20:31

I’m really sorry ❤️‍🩹 we are travelling tomorrow too and the kids have been little dicks too. I’ve found myself in a state of learned helplessness due to DH and the youngest’s PDA. It feels like a pinball machine tbh. I’m just standing here randomly pressing buttons and hoping for the best, with no idea when the kids will dump a big load of stress, or even vengeance. Sending a hug and wine through the Internets. It’s not you.

JekyllHyde · 13/02/2026 20:35

Thank you. Your description is very apt!

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Peonyperfection · 13/02/2026 20:36

I think at least one if not to of my children have PDA but it’s not diagnosed on my country on the NHS.

JekyllHyde · 13/02/2026 20:43

No it’s not diagnosed here really - so dd has adhd with pda and odd as part of the profile

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Maluki · 13/02/2026 23:52

PDA cannot be "diagnosed" by any NHS centre as it's not an official recognised condition within the DSM 5 or ICD 11. It's also always part of an autism profile in the UK

christmasoverwhelm · 01/04/2026 21:40

In my search for info on pda and just feeling totally alone on this journey, I came across this blog, it has a bunch of helpful articles on PDA and low demand parenting. I’ve just read about ten back to back
https://www.amandadiekman.com/blog/Meet-Autism-Criteria

How PDA Kids Meet Autism Criteria: A PDA Lens on the DSM-5

Navigating PDA and autism evaluations can be complex. Learn how PDA traits intersect with DSM-5 autism criteria to improve diagnosis and support pathways for PDA children.

https://www.amandadiekman.com/blog/Meet-Autism-Criteria

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