Tantrum

Tantrums are one of the most common forms of problematic behavior in young children but tend to decrease in frequency and intensity as the child grows older.[8] For the toddler, tantrums can be considered as normal, even as gauges of developing strength of character.[9][10][11]

Child having a tantrum

While tantrums are sometimes seen as a predictor of future anti-social behaviour,[12] in another sense they are simply an age-appropriate sign of excessive frustration,[13] and will diminish over time given a calm and consistent handling.[14][15][16] Parental containment where a child cannot contain itself—rather than what the child is ostensibly demanding—may be what is really required.[17]

Selma Fraiberg warned against "too much pressure or forceful methods of control from the outside" in child-rearing: "if we turn every instance of pants changing, treasure hunting, napping, puddle wading and garbage distribution into a governmental crisis we can easily bring on fierce defiance, tantrums, and all the fireworks of revolt in the nursery".[18]

Some people who have developmental disorders such as autism, Asperger syndrome,[19][20] ADHD, and intellectual disability[21] could be more vulnerable to tantrums than others, although anyone experiencing brain damage (temporary or permanent) can suffer from tantrums.[22] Anyone may be prone to tantrums once in a while, regardless of gender or age.[23][24] However, a meltdown due to sensory overload (which even neurotypical children can experience) is not the same as a temper tantrum.[25]

Freud considered that the Wolf Man's development of temper tantrums was connected with his seduction by his sister: he became "discontented, irritable and violent, took offence on every possible occasion, and then flew into a rage and screamed like a savage".[26] Freud linked the tantrums to an unconscious need for punishment driven by feelings of guilt[27]—something which he thought could be generalised to many other cases of childhood tantrums.[28]

Heinz Kohut contended that tantrums were narcissistic rages,[29] caused by the thwarting of the infant's grandiose-exhibitionist core. The blow to the inflated self-image, when a child's wishes are (however justifiably) refused, creates fury because it strikes at the feeling of omnipotence.[30]

Jealousy over the birth of a sibling, and resulting aggression, may also provoke negativistic tantrums, as the effort at controlling the feelings overloads the child's system of self-regulation.[31][32]

Writer William Makepeace Thackeray claimed that in later life "you may tell a tantrum as far as you can see one, by the distressed and dissatisfied expression of its countenance—'Tantrumical', if we may term it so".[33]

Heinz Kohut contended that "the infant's core is likely to contain a self-centred, grandiose-exhibitionist part", and that "tantrums at being frustrated thus represent narcissistic rages"[29] at the blow to the inflated self-image. With "a child confronted with some refusal ... regardless of its justifications, the refusal automatically provokes fury, since it offends his sense of omnipotence".[30]

The willingness of the celebrity to throw tantrums whenever thwarted to the least degree[34] is a kind of Acquired Situational Narcissism[35] or tantrumical behavior.

If tantrums are shown by older people, they might often be signs of immaturity and a mental disability; however, many people can have them under extreme stress.[36]

• Acting out
• Running amok
• Disturbing the peace
• Philippic (tirade, orations)

• The dictionary definition of tantrum at Wiktionary
• 10 Parenting Tips To Tame Toddler Tantrums
• What is the meaning of tantrums and how to stop them