Behavior Changes in Children With Lyme Disease and Parental Stress
Lyme disease in children can cause behavioral and emotional changes that are difficult for families to manage. Mood swings, irritability, aggression, and emotional outbursts can appear during the illness, sometimes overwhelming parents who are trying to respond effectively.
These behavioral symptoms are increasingly recognized as part of the broader neurologic and inflammatory effects of Lyme disease on the brain.
Can Lyme disease cause behavior changes in children?
Lyme disease in children can trigger behavioral changes including mood swings, irritability, aggression, and emotional outbursts. These symptoms may arise from the neurologic and inflammatory effects of infection on the brain and can be difficult for families to manage.
Some clinicians believe these symptoms fall within the spectrum of neuropsychiatric Lyme disease, where infection and inflammation affect brain function and behavior.
Could these situations lead to what psychologists describe as parental flooding?
Parents experiencing flooding “are overwhelmed by the intensity and aversive nature of child negative affect,” writes Del Vecchio and colleagues in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.1
When this occurs, parents “may be less likely to react effectively and instead may focus on escaping the aversive situation, disciplining either overly permissively or punitively to escape quickly from child negative affect.”
Lyme disease in children can trigger behavioral changes, including extreme mood swings, explosive anger, and aggressiveness.2 Managing these symptoms can be exhausting for parents and emotionally overwhelming for families. In these situations, parental flooding may occur.
The authors created the Parent Flooding Scale (PFS) to assess “the extent to which parents believe their children’s negative affect during parent-child conflicts is unexpected, overwhelming, and distressing.” Such a scale may be helpful to therapists working with parents and children who have Lyme disease.
READ MORE: When Lyme disease in children causes oppositional behavior
Flooding does not refer to a particular emotional experience (such as sadness or anger), but rather the degree to which another person’s emotion is experienced as overpowering and interfering, explains Del Vecchio.
[bctt tweet=”Behavior changes in children with Lyme disease can overwhelm parents.” username=”DrDanielCameron”]
When flooded, the sympathetic nervous system is heightened and the parental reaction is “thought to overwhelm rational deliberation, making it difficult to attend to the situation and engage in calm, organized behaviors.”
Parents may employ what the authors describe as an escape-conditioning model. “To the extent that some parents are overwhelmed by the intensity and aversive nature of these emotional experiences, they may consequently employ a discipline response, often either overly permissive or punitive, that offers the quickest escape from child negative affect.”
Behavior changes are part of the broader spectrum of pediatric Lyme disease, which can also include oppositional behavior and emotional distress that affect both children and families.
Editor’s note
For the purposes of transparency, I am not a trained psychiatrist or psychologist. I am using this research on parental flooding to better understand the challenges faced by families caring for children with Lyme disease. More research in this area would be helpful.
Related Articles:
Parents of children with Lyme disease describe fear and frustration
Recommendations dismiss seriousness of Lyme disease in children
References:
- Del Vecchio T, Lorber MF, Slep AM, Malik J, Heyman RE, Foran HM. Parental Flooding During Conflict: A Psychometric Evaluation of a New Scale. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2016;44(8):1587-1597.
- Bransfield RC. Aggressiveness, violence, homicidality, homicide, and Lyme disease. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2018;14:693-713.
Dr. Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH
Lyme disease clinician with over 30 years of experience and past president of ILADS.
Symptoms • Testing • Coinfections • Recovery • Pediatric • Prevention
Forty years ago (1979-1980) in Black River Falls, WI, I was hospitalized and diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis affecting my knees. I also had an unexplained bullseye rash. Ten years later I was told by my doctor that it was determined that I had Lyme disease rather than JRA. Not enough was known about Lyme disease at the time of my illness. Therefore, I was never treated for it.
As an adult I have had a myriad of health problems including idiopathic hypersomnia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, depression, and significant memory problems.
Since my recent Lyme’s testing has come up negative, I have not been able to find a doctor who is willing to explore possible treatment options. I was referred to behavioral health providers instead. Is there any avenues for me to pursue appropriate answers – forty years later?
I also have patients who have been ill for decades. I don’t think it is too late to try. I would add a doctor familiar with Lyme disease to review your case. Call my office at 914 666 4665 if you have any additional questions.
I have no doubt that this occurs with patents of Lyme children – but what about their siblings? It seems plausible that it has a similar effect on them. Has this ever been studied?
I have seen siblings who are overwhelmed. I have not seen a study.