Parental Alienation From A Child's Perspective Highlighted In Memoir 'Don't Hug Your Mother'

Brothers Brendan and JP Byrne have written a book charting their experience with parental alienation and its effects. "Don't Hug Your Mother" tackles their lives as children of divorce and how they grew up without their mother's presence.

The Byrne brothers, who live in Ireland, were only 10 and 12 when their parents separated. They had to live with a father who eventually banned them from having contact with their mom or else they would be subjected to physical and psychological punishments.

"The result: we did not have any contact with our mother for eighteen years," Brendan wrote via Village Magazine. But as adults, the Bryne brothers began to wonder if their situation was unique.

In trying to come to terms with their experiences as children, the brothers learned about the silent family epidemic called parental alienation. They found individuals with similar harrowing experiences they could sympathize with, which has led them to write their story and release the book, "Don't Hug Your Mother."

Reviews from Amazon readers cite that the book is an honest first-hand take of children's perspective on parental alienation. Aside from the boys' stories, the book contains actual diary entries written by JP as a child and recounts how they've come to realize that their father has been using them against his ex-wife.

"If she goes to hug you, duck out of the hugs," their father supposedly told them during their visits with their mom in the early years of the separation, as related to Patria Devlin on her site. For years, the Bryne brothers were brainwashed and manipulated by their father into believing that their mother didn't want them, until they tracked her in 2008.

Reuniting with their mother was expectedly emotional but it also resulted in their father completely disowning them. "To be honest I was kind of delighted," Brendan told Devlin. "He was such a manipulator that I would have felt guilty if I was the one ending contact. I just thought, 'I'm free'," the author added.

Parental alienation could be considered as a form of child abuse, according to Fact. Learn more about this in the video below.