Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is a psychiatric illness characterized by problems with emotional attachments and usually presents around age five (Reactive Attachment Disorder, 2013 ). However, parents or caregivers may notice that the child has emotional attachment problems by the age of one (Reactive Attachment Disorder, 2013). The DSM-IV goes on to describe RAD as also including the first or second category (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The first category describes the inability to interact in developmentally appropriate ways, while the second category describes the inability to discriminate appropriate attachments to different groups of people (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Boekamp (2008) describes these two forms of RAD which have been identified by the DSM as disinhibited and inhibited. Part of understanding RAD requires studying the perspective that children with RAD have. Tobin, Wardi-Zonna, and Yezzi-Shareef (2007) collected data on the memories children had with RAD and some important themes were feelings of loneliness or abandonment, emotional needs that were not being met, as well as feeling sad . or be afraid. An important question to explore before delving into RAD is what exactly attachment is. Attachment is the bond between the caregiver and the child that usually develops during the child's first year (Fonagy, Steele, & Steele, 1991). This bond is crucial for the formation of other attachment relationships that the child will form (Horner, 2008; Lyons, 2007). There are several attachment theories that have been extensively studied. Bowlby was a psychiatrist who worked on attachment theory. His theory describes how a child... middle of paper... questions the accuracy of a child's self-assessment. One question to ask is whether children with RAD actually perceive their parents' warmth accurately or not. That's why more studies on RAD need to be conducted to help children and families. Increasing research into areas of the brain that play a role in RAD should also be a priority. The cortisol study by Kocovska, Wilson, Young, Wallace, Gorski, Follan, and Minnis (2013) was an interesting study that can be explored further. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is crucial in the regulation of stress and further research may eventually uncover how children with RAD differ in cortisol production compared to a control (Brand, Brennan, Newport, Smith, Zachary, 2010; Caldji, Diorio, Meaney, 2000). Areas important for attachment, such as the amygdala, can also be studied further.