A few days ago we were talking about the Emperor's syndrome, and today I hear on the radio a story about it, which is being published in various media. In recent years cases of emperor syndrome or children who mistreat their parents have multiplied.
Specifically, this psychosocial phenomenon has multiplied by six since 2000, with about 6,500 complaints received by the State Attorney General's Office in 2010, as reported by the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap), which has treated this theme at its Seventh Annual Meeting, in Guadalajara.
Pediatricians have indicated that, generally, these disorders appear due to genetic, family and environmental causes. Sometimes there are biological causes associated with certain psychological disorders that cause a child to abuse his parents.
But how important can the education we give our children (or lack thereof) to develop the emperor syndrome?
As we mentioned in our previous posts, the abandonment of family functions, overprotection, lack of authority and lack of affection on the part of parents, are some of the factors that have triggered this increase in cases of emperor syndrome among children and adolescents.
Dr. María Victoria García García-Calvo, president of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics of Castilla La Mancha (APapCLM), said in statements to the media that
In recent decades, we have experienced very important changes in the way we understand responsibilities in the family. Sometimes parents find great difficulties in establishing the right balance between authority and affectivity (...). It is in the learning stage when the role of each family member must be distributed and reaffirmed. The belief that the child should not be denied anything should be abolished and 'no' must be said as many times as necessary.
In addition, he points out that parents, rather than punishing when there is an error, have to gratify the child when he does things right.
Other attitudes that consultants specialists have most advised are: grant responsibilities to the child and make him think before acting, together with the establishment of norms and limits that is not only essential, but is fully compatible with affection.
In fact, pediatricians have advised to establish, from the beginning, clear rules that regulate family life but, above all, they have stressed the importance of maintaining consistency and reasoning rules when the child has the ability to compress (even before, I would say ).
Limits are necessary, and are not incompatible with parenting with respect and empathy, necessary for happy growth.
Therefore, in a society in which these aspects are not valued and in which violence is a daily dish around us, it is not surprising that increase cases of emperor syndrome or children who mistreat their parents. Soon we will continue analyzing this worrying issue.
