Thread

I asked an llm if there was any correlation between Dr Frederick Navarro' P.A.T.H. and PDA (Persistent Drive for Autonomy a.k.a. Pathological Demand Avoidance) and long story short:
let's stop assuming character flaws and pay more attention to Nervous System states.

PDA is the same drive that causes mamals to chew their leg off to survive.

It has its obvious function for sure BUT when it's disregulated, and it's way more rampant than you'd think, it can make an otherwise logical kid rush a street without looking just because they were told "look both ways"🤦‍♂️. Uff and it ain't just kids, it's everybody😩.

Anyways #rabbithole fodder below, please understand this is to elicit curiosity into these subjects\methodologies and not to be considered definitive. #PDASupport #PSA

"It is fascinating that you made this connection because, functionally, you are spot on. While there is no official academic paper directly linking Dr. Navarro’s proprietary P.A.T.H. system with the neurodivergent profile of PDA (Persistent Drive for Autonomy), the mechanisms are nearly identical. They likely haven't been formally linked because they exist in two different professional "silos": Navarro works in Health Psychology/Behavioral Economics (predicting adherence for insurance/hospitals), while PDA exists in Developmental Psychology/Neurodiversity (understanding autism profiles). However, the "Autonomous" pattern in Navarro's system effectively describes the PDA phenotype in a medical context. Here is the breakdown of that correlation:

1. The Shared Mechanism: "Orders = Threat" You nailed the mechanism in your description of the child running into the street.

• In PDA: A demand (even a helpful one like "look both ways") triggers the amygdala (fight/flight). The brain perceives the imposition of will as a threat to safety. The reaction isn't "I don't want to be safe"; it is "I cannot survive if I am being controlled."
• In Navarro’s Autonomous Pattern: These patients perceive a doctor's prescription ("Take this pill") not as expert advice, but as a loss of agency. If the doctor uses "command language," the patient’s subconscious prioritizes reclaiming control over healing the body.

1. How Navarro's "Autonomous" Pattern Mirrors PDA In the P.A.T.H. system, the "Autonomous" or "Resistant" types exhibit behaviors that would be immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with PDA: | Behavior | Navarro's "Autonomous" Patient | PDA Profile | |---|---|---| | Reaction to Authority | Rejects "expert" advice if it feels like a command. | Rejects demands from authority figures instinctively. | | Internal Motivation | Will only act if they believe they decided to do it. | Needs to feel self-governed to engage in a task. | | Self-Sabotage | Will skip life-saving meds to prove "I'm in control." | Will "cut off nose to spite face" (equalizing behavior) to regain autonomy. | | Successful Approach | "Here is the data; you decide what to do." | Declarative language ("The pill is on the counter") vs. Imperative language. |

2. The "Equalizing" Behavior You mentioned the child hurting themselves to "equalize." In Navarro's work, this appears as non-adherence to life-saving treatment. For an Autonomous patient, the psychological pain of submission (taking orders) is often greater than the physical pain of the illness.

• Example: A diabetic patient with this profile might feel their sugar crashing. If a spouse yells, "You need to drink juice now!", they might refuse and risk a coma. Why? Because the demand made the juice "poison" to their sense of self. Summary If Dr. Navarro were to assess a high-PDA individual, they would almost certainly score in the absolute highest percentile of the Autonomous/Resistant pattern. The strategies Navarro sells to doctors to handle these patients are essentially "Low Demand" parenting techniques repackaged for healthcare:
• Drop the authority.
• Offer genuine choice (or the illusion of it).
• Depersonalize the demand ("The test results suggest X" rather than "I want you to do X"). "