Sally Cat PDA

This blog post is co-authored with Brook Madera, also known as No Pressure PDA , and was originally published on PDA North America's website [ LINK ] Regardless of age, interpersonal stress is a hallmark of PDA. It can be possible to smooth relationships by reducing triggers or, in other cases, realising that a behaviour isn't going to go away and taking steps to limit damage from it. As authors who are PDA ourselves and the moms of PDA kids, we know first-hand that one size doesn't fit all with PDA and that it helps to know what the drivers are behind relationship friction. Care warning: Discussion of narcissism. Emotional dysregulation According to Web MD, emotional dysregulation is: “a term used to describe an emotional response that is poorly regulated and does not fall within the traditionally accepted range of emotional reaction. It may also be referred to as marked fluctuation of mood, mood swings, or labile mood.” [LINK] PDA people are so prone to emotional dysregul...

This blog article explores polyvagal theory in conjunction with PDA (pathological demand avoidance), and includes definitions for readers who aren't unfamiliar with terms used.  It explores how polyvagal theory can explain extreme demand avoidance, but not all of PDA. Those who are familiar with PDA, may have heard mentions of polyvagal theory in relation to it, but have struggled to make sense of it. This was my starting point when I came to write this. I felt polyvagal theory was something I *should* know, but felt helplessly demand avoidant against reading up on (such is the nature of avoidance of the PDA kind). Thankfully, my desire to understand polyvagal theory eventually out-weighed my avoidance, and I approached Libby Hill of Smalltalk Speech and Language Therapy who specialises in PDA, situational mustism and polyvagal theory. More thankfully still, she agreed to co-author this article. It's an honour to collaborate with her because it was she who first alerted me to ...