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An attachment disorder is a mental and emotional condition occurring in the first two years of life that causes a
child not to attach, to bond, or to trust his/her primary caretaker.
The first year in the cycle of life is a year of needs. When the infant has a need, it initiates attachment behavior in
order to summon a nurturing response from its attachment figure. The need/gratifying response usually includes touch, eye
contact, movement, smiles, and lactose. When gratification occurs, trust is built. This cycle occurs hundreds of times a
week, and thousands of times in the first year. From this relationship, a sychronicity develops between parent and child.
The caregiver develops a greater awareness of their child and learns just how to respond. The child develops good
cause/effect thinking, feels powerful, trusts others, shows exploratory behavior, develops empathy and a conscience. When
the first year of life cycle is undermined, and the needs of the child are not met, mistrust begins to define the
perspective of the child and anxious attachment results.
Causes:
The cycle can become undermined or broken for many reasons:
- Abuse/Neglect in the first three years of life
- Multiple disruptions in caregiving such as multiple primary caregivers
- Post-partum or maternal depression
- Hospitalization of the child causing separation from the parent and/or unrelieved pain.
- Parents who are attachment disordered, leading to neglect, abuse(physical/sexual/verbal), or
inappropriate parental responses not leading to a secure/predictable relationship.
- Genetic factors
- Pervasive developmental disorders
- Caregivers whose attachment needs aren't met, leading to overload and lack of awareness of the infant's
needs
- Many placements in the foster care system
- Unresolved, ongoing pain - ear infections, colic, etc.
- Maternal alchohol/drug use
- Lack of attunement between mother and child
- Young, or inexperienced mother with poor parenting skills
Symptoms:
The child naturally develops mistrust and shuts down effective attachment behavior. The developmental stages following the
first year continue to be distorted and/or retarded and common symptoms emerge:
- Severe need for control over everyone and everything, bossy
- Superficially engaging and charming (phoniness)
- Lack of eye contact
- Indiscriminately affectionate with strangers
- Not affectionate on parental terms
- Destructive to self, others, and material things
- Cruelty to animals and/or people
- Primary process lying (lying in the face of the obvious)
- Low impulse control
- Learning lags.
- Lack of cause and effect thinking
- Lack of conscience and remorse
- Abnormal eating patterns - hordes, gorges, refuses to eat, eats strange things, hides food
- Poor peer relationships
- Fascinated with fire, blood, gore, weapons, evil
- Persistent nonsense questions and incessant chatter.
- Inappropriately demanding and clingy
- Abnormal speech patterns
- Sexually inappropriate
- Argumentative - often over ridiculous things
- Hypervigilant/Hyperactive
- Steals
- Developmental delays
- Very concerned about tiny hurts but brushes off big hurts
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