Our 2-year-old granddaughter has been living in a stressful situation since birth. She has witnessed her biological father beating up her mother and the family dog on many occasions. Her mother is emotionally unstable (hospitalized for years with severe anorexia and bulimia; at one time it was thought she has borderline personality disorder) and has recently left the father, but thinks her daughter needs to see her father; these encounters have resulted in more beatings and his abducting her for a short period of time. The police have been involved numerous times. The child is very bright but uncontrollable. She is hyperactive, destructive, aggressive, has tantrums, swears like a trooper, has nightmares and is terrified of "monsters". What are the possible effects (short-term and long-term) of stress like this on a child? What danger signs in her behavior should we be watching for? Is there anything we as grandparents can do when she is with us to help her?