Simran Jaiswal
Although we have a choice in becoming the person we strive to be it is without a doubt that our childhoods mould us to certain extent.

Attachment theory

Attachment is said to be a deep and lasting emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space. It does not give birth to be reciprocal. Attachment behaviour in adults towards the child includes responding sensitively and appropriately to the child’s demands. Attachment theory explains how the parent-child relationship emerges and influences subsequent development. Attachment theory develops through a series of stages is believed by most researchers and they developed 3 measures 

  • Stranger anxiety – Stranger Anxiety – response to the arrival of a stranger.
  • Separation Anxiety – distress level when separated from a carer, the degree of comfort needed in return.
  • Social Referencing – the level a child looks at their carer to check how they should respond to something new (secure base).

The behaviourist theory of attachment suggests that attachment is a circle of learning behaviours.    The basis for the learning of attachments is the supply of food.    An infant will initially make an attachment to whoever feeds it. They discover the comfort of being fed come to find contacts with the mother comforting. Well, certain behaviours do bring desirable responses from others & learn to repeat this behaviour to get what they want. 

The innate behaviour produced by infants as crying/smiling stimulates cares giving a response. 

A minor has a primarily monotropy attachment style which acts as a secure base exploring the world. Whereas the attachment relationship acts as a paradigm for all future relationships and disrupting it can have consequences. The age of 0-5 years is a critical period of developing an attachment, no attachment developed at this point can cause irreversible developmental consequences, reduction to intelligence and increased aggression. 

In that respect is one type of secure attachment and there are 3 types of insecure attachments: Anxious/Ambivalent,  Anxious/Avoidant and Anxious/disorganised. In responses to distress, the first 3 react organised, while the last acts disorganised. 

Attachments are formed in the very first years of our lives, a time when we are too young to communicate our anxiety and as a result can have high levels of stress. Then our adrenal gland – an organ sitting on top of our kidneys – produces the stress-hormones adrenaline and cortisol. The heart rate increases, the blood pressure goes up and we become alert. If that occurs frequently, it is called toxic stress. Toxic, because it impairs the development of a child’s mind, and weakens the immune system. Attachments are formed in the very first years of our lives, a time when we are too young to communicate our anxiety and as a result can have high levels of strain.

By simulating a Strange Situation, we can assess an attachment style, already by the age of one. An experiment conducted to practice this, they let the child play with their mothers for a few minutes in a room. Then the child is left unaccompanied. The key bit is the child’s reaction when her mother returns. Securely attached children first usually hug their mother, then can calm down and eventually get back to running. Insecurely attached children can be ambivalent and avoidant. Some can’t stop crying or refuse to continue acting. 

The long term effects of our attachment in the early years, are comfortably documented. Founded on this theory, researchers at Minnesota University predicted already at age 3, if a child would drop out of high school with 77% accuracy. 

In another study, undergraduates at Harvard were asked to measure how close they felt to their parents. 35 years later they were asked about their health. 91% of those who said they had a rather broken relationship with their mother, were also diagnosed with health issues, including coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and alcoholism. For those that had reported a warm relationship, the figure of poor health diagnosis was only 45%. 

But there is some other reason why the early years deserve special attention. They are the starting place for subsequent behaviours. A kid that feels securely attached at age 2, can make friends in kindergarten. Their worldview gets reinforced with every interaction and they develop optimism. As a result, they produce good relationships at school, then at colleague and later at work. Highly insecurely attached children can miss out on this chance. 

“What cannot be communicated to the mother, cannot be communicated to the self.” – John Bowlby. 

In other words: those who feel insecurely attached, might not quite understand themselves. To get to know who they are and what they feel, they might have to run way back in time.

Here three of possible therapies I got to know about:
1. Psychoanalysis: The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release suppressed emotions and experiences, i.e., make the unconscious conscious. In order to do that, the therapist might try to bring back some childhood memories, to work on the root cause of the trouble.
2. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT): CBT is a psycho-social intervention that is widely used for improving mental wellness. Instead of trying to bring you back in time, it aims to explain to you what’s going on inside your brain and how to cope with irrational beliefs or fears.
3. The Hoffmann Process: This 7-8 day guided process, designed by the American psychologist Hoffmann, brought participants back into their childhood to reconnect with their parents at the time when an attachment is organised. It’s very, very intensive.

REFERENCES
Havard Study https://arizona.pure.elsevier.com/en/…
Minnesota Study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti…