This diagnostic evaluates four behavioral domains that define the Parental Discard process: third-party influence on the adult child, narrative construction and justification used to validate the severance, systemic erasure of extended family, and execution patterns of the cutoff itself. Your score maps to one of three severity stages, each with distinct behavioral characteristics and implications.
The Screen Persona is testing boundaries. The adult child is tentatively introducing new language, rigid conditions, and distance to gauge your reaction. This is a low-commitment phase — the new identity is being tried on but has not yet fully committed to the severance. Early intervention may still be possible at this stage, though the patterns are already present.
Active performance of the new persona. The adult child is fully engaged in purging the parental bond — broadcasting the victim narrative, retroactively rewriting family history, and recruiting third parties to validate the severance. The conflict exists between the child's genuine history and the Screen Persona they are now aggressively enforcing. Logic and reconciliation are actively blocked at this stage.
Complete systemic shutdown. The Screen Persona has fully overwritten the authentic self. Reality as the parent knew it has been replaced. The cutoff is sudden, absolute, and extends to grandchildren, extended family, and anyone who does not adopt the fabricated narrative. All communication is met with silence or scripted blame. History has been inverted. There is no substantiated basis for the severance — the clean record confirms the discard is driven by the constructed persona, not by any actual harm.
© 2026 Parental Discard™ — M.F. Shaw MsPSY — ParentalDiscard.com
All rights reserved. Protected under U.S. copyright law.
From the developing works: "Parental Discard: The 21st Century Erasure of Parents" and "Sold Souls: The Story of Parental Discard"