User:Hussamalazzawi/sandbox

Emotional Clarity and Its Role in Child Development
Emotional clarity refers to how you understand and grasp the emotions you feel. Research shows that it plays an important role in depression and negative affect1, and is linked to depressive symptoms during early adolescence2 that hinder cognitive development. There is no Wikipedia article on emotional clarity, and our submission would look at its definition in contemporary psychology, its role in cognitive development, its relation to parental neglect3, and its possible use to undo damage created by violence in early years.

Authors have used a “pushing and pulling” analogy4 to explore the clarity mechanism: since we have various needs, no one need can dominate, but they compete for our attention. Pushes drive us to different needs and include pain and discomfort, while pulls draw us and motivate us toward satisfying that need, and can include pleasure. Typically in the context of children, we refer to boredom as the push to seek new experiences and gain knowledge, and confusion as the push to keep children from getting overwhelmed. The pleasure of understanding -- clarity -- acts as the pull toward exploration. The neural structures in charge of these pushes and pulls is referred to as the “clarity mechanism”5, and although we cannot directly control it, we can choose environments that promote boredom, confusion, and clarity. This is relevant because during the early years, we can’t actually control our environment, and it all goes back to parenting: the link between neglect and the lack of clarity makes sense then.

It is also possible to use this mechanism to undo cognitive damage created by violence in early years: if one fosters an environment that promotes clarity, then it will be easier for children to pursue their purposes. But research shows that such environments also require input from the children6; for instance, instead of just using figures to teach about rivers, it would be more useful to relate it to a topic relevant to the child, such as infiltration. This is to allow children to build on existing mental models by applying their skills, and also to provide children with constructive hope, which has shown to increase positive action in areas like climate change7. One way this influences cognitive development is by “learning through play”8.

Moreover, we may relate emotional clarity to directed attention. When it is not possible to foster an effective environment, it is possible to achieve clarity by utilized focused attention. Specifically, this form of attention can be used to solve confusing clues, explore information, and so forth9. It can thus help reach emotional clarity as well, but the disadvantage here is that the constant use of directed attention may lead to cognitive load and mental fatigue10, which results in learning difficulties11.

Emotional Deprivation Disorder
An additional topic that our group is considering for our final Wikipedia article is Emotional Deprivation Disorder. Emotional Deprivation Disorder (also called Affective Deprivation Disorder and formerly called Deprivation Neurosis or Frustration Neurosis) is a condition that arises due to a persistent lack of emotional support, personal confirmation, and unconditional love early in one’s life (source 1). People with Emotional Deprivation Disorder likely experienced some form of emotional rejection, neglect, abuse, social ostracism, parental alienation, or abandonment consistently during their childhoods (source 1). The symptoms of Emotional Deprivation Disorder include trouble in forming relationships with other people, persistent fear and insecurity of how one’s actions will be received by or will affect others, fatigue, feelings of intense guilt, underdeveloped senses, and having a child-like level of emotional maturity and development (source 2).

First discovered in the 1950s by Dutch psychiatrist Dr. Anna Terruwe, Emotional Deprivation Disorder (then called frustration neurosis) was characterized by a patient’s abnormally intense desire and need for a maternal type of love (source 3). Dr. Terruwe had been treating a 25-year-old woman for months without any progress – the doctor noted that the patient had “intense anxiety” and “possessed an unusually infantile emotional life,” until the patient revealed that she simply needed to be treated in a maternal fashion (source 3). Frustration neurosis was renamed Emotional Deprivation Disorder to align with current nomenclature used in psychiatry. Emotional Deprivation Disorder is not recognized in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (source 3).

Emotional deprivation – a root cause of Emotional Deprivation Disorder – was first coined as a form of child abuse in 1983 in a New York Times article chronicling a University of Minnesota study following children who were emotionally neglected by their parents as children. The author claims that two children, victims of child abuse showing signs of social withdrawal and emotional incapability, are “already well on their way to being severely handicapped both socially and psychologically” (source 4). The study goes on to reveal that a “caretaker’s lack of emotional responsiveness is a devastating form of abuse,” introducing emotional deprivation as a form of child abuse (source 4). Beyond being a form of child abuse in itself, emotional deprivation (and subsequently Emotional Deprivation Disorder) can be a result of other psychological traumas in one’s childhood as well, alongside being a facet of separate anxiety and stress disorders, such as Depersonalization Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Borderline Personality Disorder (source 5).

In this article, we hope to outline the key symptoms of Emotional Deprivation Disorder, speculated causes of the syndrome, and ramifications on the adult lives and behaviors of those affected by it. In addition, we hope to cover some of its brief history, alongside revealing other names that the informal and unofficial emotional disorder may have had in the past and today. We then hope to describe what types of child abuse and parental behaviors most commonly lead to Emotional Deprivation Disorder, why Emotional Deprivation Disorder is not recognized in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and potential ways it is being remedied by psychiatrists and doctors today (if at all).

Abandoned Child Syndrome
One topic that our group might consider to address is Abandoned Child Syndrome. This syndrome already has a wikipedia page, but it is rated “start” in quality and has tons of room for improvement and additional sources. To improve this article, more citations and sections should be added. A treatment section definitely should be added to the article, some of which can be found at http://www.threadsoffeeling.com/understanding-physical-psychological-impacts-abandonment-child/.

More of the history behind when this syndrome was officially recognized should be addressed, along with a section that discusses the steps that outsiders can take if they believe a child has Abandoned Child Syndrome. Additionally, the causes section can be expanded in order to create a better understanding of why children may have this syndrome and to make a more inclusive list ( https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-many-faces-addiction/201006/understanding-the-pain-abandonment ).

Another important section that should be added concerns the long term effects on children who experience abandonment. Abandonment can lead to a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, along with other disorders, that can continually cause problems for children  ( http://www.abandonment.net/articles/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-of-abandonment-part-i-an-overview-and-list-of-30-characteristics ).

Children Organ harvesting
Organ procurement is a phenomenon that revolutionized the world of medicine, as it enabled patients to receive organ transplantation from the bodies of organ donors who have passed away. However, because of the huge demand for human organs and limited supply of these organs, gangs and other immoral groups began a trend of harvesting organs from alive children.

While Organ procurement and organ trade both have wikipedia pages, there is no wikipedia page concerning the illegal practice of children trafficking, kidnapping and killing for the harvesting of their healthy organs. The phenomenon of such Children Organ Harvesting is very disturbing to think about and as a result is a lot of times left unsettled. However, over the last 10 years the number of children (especially street children) who have been found dead and organless has been increasing.