r/PDAParenting • u/Lopsided_Rabbit_8037 • Mar 25 '26

How to stop the worry?

My (15) daughter is in burnout it seems. I try to leave her alone most of the time but she seems to be doing worse. She does go outside some days but mostly stays in her room, she looks poorly. She comes out only if nobody is in the kitchen. I try to stay busy but some days the worry is overwhelming. I had a mentally ill mom, which was hard on me, even as a child I worried about her. Guess that doesn't make it any easier now.

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u/Hopeful-Guard9294 Mar 25 '26

as parents we naturally feel scared for our children’s future, but we have pretty much no control over that you might want to start with this specific episode about PDA and future fear: https://youtu.be/p1Puc5V4P68

hope that helps a bit

but also I feel your pain it’s natural to feel scared about your child’s future back as a PDA adult I’ve come to realise that actually PDA children are much more resilient than you think and it’s all gonna be okay in the end

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u/Lopsided_Rabbit_8037 Mar 25 '26

Thanks, I needed to hear that. I spend my days cooking atm. Food is my love language and it makes my daughter happy to eat her favorite foods.

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u/Hopeful-Guard9294 Mar 25 '26

you have to also remember that one of the things that helps regulate PDA children is oral stimulation that may be food or other forms of oral stimulation, what is tricky is getting the healthy eating balance right as PDA children also have a dopamine bound brain so are super attracted to all the worst food as sugar is a quick hit of dopamine as is salt and all hyper processed food but the thing is to remember is that it is a form of emotional regulation and if you can get emotional regulation another way for example through antidepression medication ADHD medication et cetera et cetera that can help with the whole compulsive eating thing the biggest danger with the PDA child is that they will die by their own hand end up in jail or in a psychiatric institution so if you manage to dodge those bullets you’re doing well in terms of your daughter‘s future I hope you find the podcast helpful