Rats desert a sinking ship.
I love this French proverb, they are such wise words, but in our case it should go a little more like this:
Rats PDA’ers desert a sinking ship.
It’s interesting when you look at rats – they are very intelligent creatures and can make for loving and loyal pets. They are very intuitive; a bond has to be created before they are able to trust their owners. Yet, they are still hyper vigilant – one small move and they know how to escape if there is a sense of perceived danger.
Individuals with a PDA profile could well be likened to this; they sense change or threats that are in the atmosphere, way before many of us will even be aware of them. I can vouch for my daughter that she will know if there is a change in my mood way before I’ve had the chance to realise it myself. I truly believe she feels more deeply, more so than anyone could give her credit for. Her reaction to emotions are like a sixth sense – she hunts out feeling switches like a person chasing the paranormal.
You could say this is dysregulated, that she overreacts to the environmental stimuli, or her fight or flight response is not validated.
But she often knows when another human being has an agenda. She spots when someone is being fake. She clocks when another person has a need or want. She knows when they are usurping the power in any given situation. All of these humanistic behaviours could be threats when they have an impact on her. They are also the reason she has found school difficult to manage over the years and why she will need to feel trust at all times in order to be able to attend safely.
So, if she is so highly attuned at judging characteristic traits, why can’t we trust her instincts too?
A rat would follow another fellow rat if at any moment one of the rats sensed danger. They wouldn’t stop for a second and say, “hold on a minute mate, don’t you think you’re overreacting?”