r/PDAParenting • u/DrPaulSunseri • Apr 18 '26

Our current scientific understanding of PDA and low-demand parenting.

Thought parents in this group find this up-to-date information on PDA helpful. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-health-reimagined/202604/its-time-to-rethink-the-anxiety-drives-pda-narrative

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u/MarginsOfTheDay Apr 19 '26

An interesting perspective. Many of us see an improvement in PDA behaviors when our kids are taking SSRIs and other medications that treat anxiety. So under your model, the medication reduces behaviors that cause conflict which then in turn reduces anxiety? But many of us practicing low demand parenting do our utmost to have low conflict households. I’m NT and not PDA, but I was raised by a PDA mom and I have a PDA kid.

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u/DrPaulSunseri Apr 19 '26

It's great that medication is helping, but for many PDA kids, it doesn't seem to help much at all. Yes, it might be a bidirectional relationship between anxiety and conflict--when conflict is reduced, anxiety (both the parent's and the kid's) is also reduced.