When it becomes too difficult for children to cope with parental authority, they may try to escape or withdraw. The power of parents may cause withdrawal if punishment is too severe for the child, if parents are inconsistent in adminitsering rewards, if rewards are too difficult to earn, or if it is too difficult to learn behaviors required to avoid punishment. Any of these conditions may cause a child to give up trying to learn "the rules of the game." She simply quits trying to cope with reality--it has become too painful or too complex to figure out. This child cannot find suitable adjustment to the forces in her environment. She can't win. So her organism somehow tells her it is safer to escape.
The forms of withdrawal and escape may range from almost total to only occasional withdrawal from reality, including:
- Daydreaming and fantasizing.
- Inactivity, passivity, apathy.
- Regressing to infantile behavior.
- Excessive TV watching and video game playing.
- Solitary play (often with imaginary playmates).
- Getting sick.
- Running away.
- Joining gangs.
- Using drugs.
- Eating disorders.
- Depression.
