Limbic rage is a neurological disorder that presents as “tantrums” in children. Limbic rage is almost never diagnosed in children, where it should, because it removes blame from the child and focuses attention on helping that child recover.
Limbic rage is usually described in men who have had a trauma to the limbic area of the brain, which falls under the stage of midbrain development in our model. Perhaps this is because men with their stronger muscles can do more damage. Men who have had trauma from war injuries, from traumatic brain injuries, from some kinds of strokes, may go into a rage and may exhibit uncommon strength as they pick up the sofa and throw it through a window. We have seen these behaviors or heard of them if you have work in human services. I have seen this in the profiles of a dozen men I worked with in a project at Napa State Hospital’s Forensic Unit (the “criminally insane” in the State of California).
However, children can also have limbic rage, as the result of a birth trauma, a fall on their head, or a toxic exposure in utero. Sometimes we can have a tendency towards limbic rage that is further prompted by modeling in the family. AND/OR, we can work with children who have been beaten by parents, shaken as babies, “smacked upside the head”, and have both a neurological injury at this level of the brain, AND family modeling.
What is characteristic of limbic rage is that it is almost like a seizure. It is impossible in the middle of a rage to introduce “reason”. They may be impervious to any threats of consequences. They may have more than ordinary strength, have no regard for the damage they are doing.
Afterwards they may “pull out of it” and get very tired. They may go into a drugged-like sleep. They may, as some of my clients, feel deep regret, guilt, and spend a lot of time apologizing.
One of my most successful clients was a girl whose mother was covered in bruises when I first met the family, due to her 6 year-old adopted daughter’s rages. The child was always deeply sad after she beat up her mom and was sad and amazed that her mother’s bruises were due to her behavior.
Understanding that some of our children have a neurological condition helps us find non-punitive remedies, and rather help them process this, if not neurologically, at least emotionally.
The deepest recoveries come when we can address the brain itself by replicating the stages of the brain that were missed or the areas that were subsequently damaged.
The young girl in my story overcame her rages and a host of other symptoms and is a highly successful college student.
One intervention that has helped many of my children is strong sensory input. As an example, one fetal alcohol impacted teenager would go into a rage and have just enough control to climb between the box spring and the mattress of his bed. He would beg his parents to sit on him because the extremely strong input would trigger hormones that could slow down his rages. I don’t recommend this intervention for every kiddo! But please know that we have had clients who, in the midst of a rage have screamed, “Please make me stop! I don’t want to be doing this. Get away or I am going to hurt you. Make me stop!”
Even very young infants can have limbic rage and if you are observing closely the behaviors of an infant who has “tantrums”, you might be able to spot limbic rage instead.