a condition, resulting from an early lack of consistent care, characterized by a child’s or infant’s inability to make appropriate social contact with others. Symptoms include developmental delays, lack of eye contact, feeding disturbances, hyper-sensitivity to touch and sound, failure to initiate or respond to social interaction, indiscriminate sociability, self-stimulation, and susceptibility to infection.
Reactive Attachment Disorder (sometimes called "RAD") (DSM-IV 313.89) is a psychophysiologic condition (1) with markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness in most contexts that begins before age five years and is associated with grossly pathological care. This pathological caregiving behaviour may consist of any form of neglect, abuse, mistreatment or abandonment.