By Maria F. Durand. ABCNEWS.com. Jan. 9
Psychologists Say Elian Too Young to Understand His Situation
Experts say that Elian Gonzalez may be suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, a disorder commonly seen in people who have undergone a life-threatening experience.
N E W Y O R K,— Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban rafter boy who has become the focal point in an international custody battle, is the newest triumphant symbol for the Cuban exile community that hails him as an unlikely survivor of a difficult escape to freedom.
The 6-year-old boy flashes victory signs and expresses his desire to stay in the United States, but how real are those signs? And is he capable of understanding what is going on around him?
Saturday, Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Elian told him in Spanish: "Help me, Mr. Smith," and assumed from that conversation the young child wished to stay in the United States.
His relatives have prompted him, before crowds and cameras, to say that he wants to stay put.
However, child psychiatrists, who have been observing the case as it unfolds before the world, doubt whether Elian is aware of what is going on around him and say the boy shouldn’t be faced with crucial questions about his situation or forced to give opinions.
"He is very suggestible, like any kid. On top of that, he lost his mother. He saw her drown. He is craving for somebody to take care of him," said Nicolas Du Mont, director of the Hispanic Mental Health Clinic at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome?
Du Mont said that being returned to Cuba now could prove even more traumatic for Elian.
According to Du Mont, Elian may be suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, a disorder commonly seen in people who have undergone a life-threatening experience.
He could also be having nightmares and may be afraid of water.
"He really wants some order around him," Du Mont said. "He doesn’t want anybody else to abandon him and leave him."
Elian was found by the U.S. Coast Guard on an inner tube on Thanksgiving Day after his mother, stepfather and eight other people drowned while trying to reach Florida by boat.
The boy was placed with his great-uncle and great-aunt in Miami, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled Wednesday that he must be returned to his father in Cuba by Jan. 14.
By all accounts, Elian’s Miami family has been very loving, showering him with gifts and surrounding him with caring family members.
Parental Alienation Syndrome
As Elian plays with his puppy or smiles in front of a crowd of Cuban exiles, his relationship with his father could be disintegrating, according to one psychiatrist.
"The younger the child, the more susceptible he is to comments said to him," said Richard A. Gardner, a child psychiatrist and author of The Parental Alienation Syndrome.
Although Gardner has not interviewed any of Elian’s family members and does not know the nature of Elian’s relationship with his biological father or his Miami relatives, he said the boy could be become a victim of a syndrome in which abducted children turn against the left-behind
parent.
"If the family is not confronting the issues and is telling the child things that are false, he could, even after three months, profess to hate his father," Gardner said.
Decision Not Up To The Boy
One thing is certain, experts say: Elian should not be asked to make a decision on his future.
International law allows the wishes of children to be considered in a custody battle if they are mature enough to make a decision. In a case involving a custody dispute between a Bristish woman and her German husband, a German court ruled that since the youngest child was old enough to
decide whether he preferred judo or soccer, he was old enough to decide between his parents.
However, Du Mont said Elian could suffer serious mental complications if the burdensome decision is left up to him.
"He cannot be forced to take sides. If they are doing that, it’s very dangerous and could even cause him serious illness."
On Friday, a U.S. congressional committee headed by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., subpoenaed the 6-year-old Cuban boy to testify before the Committee on Government Reform Feb. 10. Burton later admitted that the move was planned so that he remain in the country while the courts can consider his
case.
Du Mont said that rather than court appearances, Elian should have psychological treatment as soon as possible.
If not, Elian could experience mental depression and behavioral problems stemming from his trauma, turning the smiling pictures and victory signs of today into distant and painful memories.
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