Attachment Disorder in Adults: Causes, Signs and Ways to Heal

Attachment disorder in adults typically starts during the most formative years in childhood.

It can be due to poor attachments to our mothers and fathers, which can include poor parenting or separation such as divorce or death. It can also be due to physical or sexual abuse. We learn from our primary caregivers how to form meaningful relationships so if they, for whatever reason, are poor examples, it’s no wonder we struggle when we are older. Adult attachment disorder in adults can show up in many different ways.

From difficulty to maintain a good relationship to things like control or anger issues. The most common cause of attachment disorder in adults, however, is attachment issues in childhood. So let’s have a quick recap about attachment theory before we continue.

Attachment Theory

John Bowlby theorized that children need to have a close attachment with a primary caregiver from birth and growing up through childhood. If they didn’t they would face issues as adults. Mary Ainsworth continued his work and identified three attachment styles:

Early Attachment Styles in Children

1. Secure Attachment: Positive and Loved

Children are loved and feel secure that their parents will be there to meet their needs. They are able to use their parents as a safe base so they can explore from it. They will go to their parents when they are distressed.

2. Avoidant: Unloved and Rejected

These children will have a parent or caregiver that ignores or rejects them or is insensitive to their needs. As a result, they learn to be independent and fend for themselves. They will not go to their parents if they are upset.

3. Anxious-Ambivalent: Angry and Confused

Children with an anxious-ambivalent style swing from exhibiting clingy or hostile behavior. This is because they have an unpredictable parent that is loving and giving one moment and then unresponsive the next.

How Attachment Styles in Children turn into Attachment Disorder in Adults

As in childhood, there are two attachment disorders in adults:

• Avoidant
• Anxious-Ambivalent

Signs of Adult Avoidant Attachment Disorder

• Aggression/Anger
• Critical/Blames others
• No empathy
• Needs control
• Cannot trust others
• Cannot depend on anyone
• Clashes with authority figures
• Avoids intimacy

Main Signs of Adult Avoidant Attachment Disorder

Aggression/Anger: Adults with avoidant attachment disorder will get depressed and anxious, but they will try their best to conceal it. Instead, it will come out as anger and aggression. They will appear cruel and hostile to their partners and display destructive behavior that others won’t be able to understand.

Needs control: Because they had no control growing up, they crave it as adults. As such, they now have to control everything, from their surroundings to their family, including the home and finances.

No empathy: As children, these adults were never shown love or caring. Now as adults they cannot connect with others, or they find it extremely difficult to do so. Another aspect of this disorder is that they find it very hard to accept love from others. They have never experienced it before. Now it feels false.

Cannot trust: These adults learned a long time ago that the most important people in their lives could not be trusted. So it is not surprising they find it almost impossible to put their trust in another person now.

Signs of Adult Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment Disorder

• Idealises relationship
• Dependence on relationships
• Jealous/Clingy behavior
• Excessive need for contact and affection
• Relies on a partner for everything
• Cannot take rejection
• Possessive
• Mood swings

Main Signs of Adult Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment Disorder

a. Dependence: For these adults, their self-worth, their identity, everything about them is caught up with their partner. Therefore they are highly dependent on them. As a result, they stifle the relationship.

b. Mood swings: This dates back to their parent’s behavior. One minute their parents were involved with them, the next minute they were being ignored. Now, as an adult, this behavior is replicated.

c. Excessive need for contact: We need contact and affection from our parents when we are growing up so if we don’t get it we crave it as adults. But it can be off-putting to our partners.

d. Jealous: Because as children we were always vying for our parent’s attention we have grown up feeling possessive and jealous if anyone stands in our way. Now we are adults this applies to our relationships.

How to Heal Attachment Disorder in Adults

There are not many of us that had the perfect childhood. But the human mind is a wonderful thing. There are many types of therapy that can help us get through even the worst childhood traumas. But to start off:

1. Identify which childhood attachment style applies to you
2. Understand why your parents may have failed you
3. Believe you can change even if you didn’t have the best start

Learn to communicate

We cannot even start to heal our psychological wounds unless we start talking. This could mean going to a therapist or just discussing things with your partner or family. The first step to getting better is talking about painful childhood experiences.

Grieve, forgive and move on

Holding onto anger and pain doesn’t serve our psyche or our wellbeing. In order to move forward we have to be able to grieve what happened, forgive those involved, and only then can we began to move on.

Talk to a therapist

If the pain is too great we need expert help. There’s no shame in going to a therapist, I’ve been to loads! And I’m seeing one now! Sometimes a therapist is the only one that has the skills to guide us through an emotional and traumatic path. They provide a safe space for us to divulge our pain and the way forward to realize our full potential.

Remember, just because you had a rotten childhood, it doesn’t mean you have to suffer through your adult life. With help and understanding, you can alter your behavior and form meaningful relationships.

References:

1. https://www.simplypsychology.org/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/