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Lyme Disease Child Behavior: Lyme Rage and Parental Flooding
Lyme disease may be associated with behavioral changes in children
Intense parent-child conflicts can leave parents overwhelmed
Feeling overwhelmed by a child’s negative emotions is called parental flooding
Lyme disease in children may be associated with behavioral changes—including irritability, explosive anger, mood swings, and aggression—that can become overwhelming for parents. Researchers use the term “parental flooding” to describe what happens when a child’s negative emotions feel overpowering and interfere with a parent’s ability to respond calmly and effectively.
Although parental flooding has not been specifically studied in families affected by Lyme disease, the concept may help explain what some parents experience when managing difficult behavioral symptoms.
What is parental flooding?
Parents experiencing flooding can become overwhelmed by the intensity and distressing nature of a child’s negative emotions, wrote Del Vecchio and colleagues in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.1
Flooding does not refer to one particular emotion, such as sadness or anger. Instead, it describes the degree to which another person’s emotions are experienced as overpowering and interfere with the ability to respond calmly.
When parents become flooded during a conflict, heightened emotional and physical arousal may make rational deliberation more difficult. A parent may struggle to evaluate the situation, organize a response, or determine what the child needs at that moment.
Lyme disease and behavioral changes in children
Behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms—including irritability, mood changes, and aggression—have been reported in association with Lyme disease.2 Pediatric studies have also described behavioral, cognitive, and psychiatric disturbances in some children with Lyme disease.3,4 These may include emotional changes, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, and declining school performance.
These behaviors should not automatically be attributed to Lyme disease. Children with sudden or severe behavioral changes need an appropriate medical and mental health evaluation for other possible neurologic, psychiatric, developmental, medication-related, and systemic causes.
When a child’s behavior changes dramatically during an illness, parents may find the symptoms confusing, exhausting, and difficult to manage. A child may also be experiencing pain, fatigue, sleep disruption, sensory sensitivity, or cognitive problems that cannot be easily explained.
These circumstances could make parental flooding more likely, particularly during repeated conflicts or severe emotional outbursts. However, this remains a proposed application of the flooding concept rather than an association established by research involving children with Lyme disease.
A related article examines oppositional behavior in children with Lyme disease.
How flooding may affect a parent’s response
Del Vecchio and colleagues proposed that flooded parents may focus on ending an emotionally distressing interaction as quickly as possible.1 This may lead to discipline that is overly permissive in one situation or excessively punitive in another.
This reaction does not necessarily mean that a parent lacks concern or parenting skills. It may reflect how difficult it is to respond effectively while feeling emotionally and physically overwhelmed.
Recognizing flooding may help parents pause, regulate their own response, and seek support before a conflict escalates. It may also help clinicians understand why otherwise thoughtful parents sometimes struggle to respond consistently during intense behavioral episodes.
The Parent Flooding Scale
Del Vecchio and colleagues developed the Parent Flooding Scale to assess whether parents experience a child’s negative emotions during parent-child conflicts as unexpected, overwhelming, and distressing.1
The researchers evaluated the scale in a community sample of 453 couples with children between 3 and 7 years old. The study supported the scale’s reliability and validity as a measure of parental flooding.
The Parent Flooding Scale may offer researchers and mental health professionals a framework for understanding parental distress. However, it has not been specifically validated in parents of children with Lyme disease and should not be considered a Lyme disease diagnostic tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Lyme disease cause behavioral changes in children?
Behavioral changes—including irritability, anxiety, mood swings, aggression, and oppositional behavior—have been reported in association with Lyme disease. However, these symptoms are not specific to Lyme disease, and children with sudden behavioral changes should receive an appropriate medical and mental health evaluation.
What is Lyme rage?
“Lyme rage” is an informal term sometimes used to describe severe anger, irritability, or explosive emotional outbursts reported by some patients with Lyme disease. It is not a formal diagnosis, and other potential causes of aggressive or unusually intense behavior should also be investigated.
What does parental flooding mean?
Parental flooding describes feeling so overwhelmed by a child’s negative emotions during a conflict that it becomes difficult to think clearly and respond calmly or consistently.
Has parental flooding been studied in families affected by Lyme disease?
No. The parental flooding study was conducted in a community sample and was not focused on Lyme disease. Applying the concept to families affected by Lyme disease is a clinical hypothesis that requires further research.
Clinical Takeaway
Parental flooding offers a potentially useful framework for understanding why parents may feel overwhelmed during conflicts involving intense child behavior. The concept should not be interpreted as evidence that Lyme disease directly causes parental flooding.
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 experiences described by some of my patients and their families. Research specifically involving families affected by pediatric Lyme disease would be helpful.
Recognizing parental distress alongside a child’s medical and behavioral symptoms may help families seek support without blaming either the child or the parent.
Related Articles
Parents of children with Lyme disease describe fear and frustration
Recommendations dismiss seriousness of Lyme disease in children
Lyme disease in children: Symptoms and early signs
References
- Del Vecchio T, Lorber MF, Slep AMS, Malik J, Heyman RE, Foran HM. Parental flooding during conflict: A psychometric evaluation of a new scale. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2016;44(8):1587–1597.
- Bransfield RC. Aggressiveness, violence, homicidality, homicide, and Lyme disease. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 2018;14:693–713.
- Bloom BJ, Wyckoff PM, Meissner HC, Steere AC. Neurocognitive abnormalities in children after classic manifestations of Lyme disease. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 1998;17(3):189–196.
- Tager FA, Fallon BA, Keilp J, Rissenberg M, Jones CR, Liebowitz MR. A controlled study of cognitive deficits in children with chronic Lyme disease. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 2001;13(4):500–507.
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
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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.