After she was divorced, Pamela Richardson's son became estranged from her and later took his own life. She blamed her husband and a condition called Parental Alienation Syndrome ... a condition so controversial it has sparked a battle over whether it even exists.

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Part Two of The Current

Parent Alienation Syndrome - Pamela Richardson

Divorces are often messy ... and Pamela Richardson's was no exception. After she and her husband split, her son Dashiell Hart grew distant from her -- alienated. She struggled to maintain contact with him, but in the end he took his own life.

Pamela Richardson wrote about her experience in a book called A Kidnapped Mind: A Mother's Heartbreaking Story of Parental Alienation Syndrome. Many mental health professionals speak of Parental Alienation Syndrome - - a scenario in which one parent takes steps to alienate children from the other parent... but it is not officially recognized in the so-called bible of the psychiatric profession -- the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM. That could change.

The American Psychiatric Association is considering including Parental Alienation Syndrome in the updated edition of the manual, the DSM-5. Pamela Richardson was in Vancouver to tell us about her experience.

Parent Alienation Syndrome - Rachel Klein

As we mentioned... The American Psychiatric Association is considering the addition of Parental Alienation Syndrome in its updated edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders -- the DSM 5. But the issue is controversial.

Doctor Rachel Klein is a member of the DSM-5 Child and Adolescent Working Group. She's also the Fascitelli Family Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine and the Director of the Anita Saltz Institute for Anxiety and Mood Disorders.

Parent Alienation Syndrome - Panel

Joseph Goldberg is the founder of an organization called the Canadian Symposium for Parental Alienation Syndrome. Later this month, his group will host a conference in Montreal called Treatment Solutions for Alienated Children. Joseph Goldberg was in our Toronto studio. And Terry O'Neill is the President of the National Organization for Women. Her group opposes including Parental Alienation Syndrome in the DSM-5 and she was in Washington this morning.

Related Links:

• Parental alienation syndrome leaves bruises deep inside By Susan Pigg - Toronto Star
• NOW (National Organization for Women) to Denounce so-called Parental Alienation Syndrome (2006)
• National Organization for Women Admonishes Media for Giving
  Alec Baldwin a Platform for Misinformed Theories (2007)

Other segments from today's show:

• Dominique Strauss-Kahn
• Age Discrimination