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Mindpath Health releases Daddy Issues: Understanding Attachment TraumaSACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This article was written by Erisa M. Preston, PsyD, a psychologist and Regional Psychotherapy Director with Mindpath Healthin Torrance, California. "You know she broke up with her partner, right? She's got so many daddy issues." We've all heard it before, whether about friends, family, ourselves, or even contestants on Love Is Blind. "Daddy issues" is a label that gets thrown around all the time—usually to describe women—and doesn't seem to have a real definition. Typically, people use 'daddy issues' to mean someone who struggles dating men, someone who doesn't have good sexual boundaries, or someone who comes across as insecure or needy. But what does it really mean to have daddy issues? A psychological name for daddy issues: attachment trauma Clearly, 'daddy issues' is not a clinical term, and you won't find it in the DSM. At its core, 'daddy issues' is a label for something very clinical: attachment trauma. Attachment trauma occurs when a parent figure (of any gender) fails to meet the needs of their child consistently. This can look like neglect, abuse, inconsistent discipline, emotional aloofness, and lack of physical and emotional contact with young children. When we say 'daddy issues,' the examples that come to mind are things like the dad who worked all the time and was never home or the dad who drank too much and couldn't be emotionally present. Attachment trauma doesn't only affect women either, but people of any gender. Attachment trauma can affect all our relationships, even into adulthood. If you think about it, it makes sense: our caregivers or parents are the first people we have relationships with, and they give us a blueprint about how to relate to everyone else. It isn't black and white, however, and it's important to remember that secure attachments in childhood do not automatically result in healthy relationships later in life, though these attachment styles help build a foundational belief that a relationship can be safe. Similarly, insecure attachments in childhood do not automatically result in unhealthy relationships later in life, though people with these styles have a lot of emotional work to do to feel safe enough to form secure attachments. Like many forms of trauma, attachment trauma can have real effects on your mental health. These effects include increased risk of depression, more difficulty regulating emotions, anxiety, and even risk of developing a personality disorder. Attachment trauma is linked with worse physical health outcomes. What does attachment trauma look like? This is where attachment styles come in. Attachment trauma, or the effects of inconsistent or abusive parenting, shows up in several different insecure attachment styles developed by psychologist John Bowlby. He called attachments "the lasting psychological connectedness between human beings" and developed the theory we use today to describe different attachment styles. These styles are not meant to be black-and-white categories, but many people find they identify with one or more of them. Anxious-Ambivalent style You might be anxiously attached if you have a generally positive image of the person you're dating and a more negative view of yourself. Other signs of anxious attachment include:
Anxious-Avoidant style You might be avoidantly attached if you tend to have a more positive view of yourself and a negative or mistrustful view of others. Here are some other signs of avoidant attachment:
This is the rarest of the insecure attachment types and typically arises from a childhood where abuse and neglect are present. You might have a disorganized attachment style if you have a negative perception of yourself and other people. The signs of a disorganized style are a little harder to pinpoint, but here are some examples:
How does attachment trauma affect you if you have a mental illness? For people with mental illness, attachment trauma can be a significant vulnerability factor. Attachment trauma has been shown to increase depression symptoms, and people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a significantly higher incidence of insecure attachment style. A person with ADHD may also experience 'rejection sensitive dysphoria,' which is the experience of feeling rejection more intensely than someone without ADHD. This can also affect attachment style and lead to more insecurity. Attachment trauma can exacerbate other existing mental health symptoms of hypervigilance, excessive fear and worry, anhedonia, impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and engagement in higher-risk behaviors. How do we heal attachment trauma? One of the most important steps in healing attachment trauma is forming healthy, secure attachments with other people. This can include a healthy attachment with a therapist. We know this isn't just about 'daddy issues.' Knowing what attachment trauma is and what causes it can get us closer to healing without all the shame of that label. Here are some ways we can approach healing attachment trauma:
Visit mindpath.com to learn more about healing attachment wounds and finding mental health services, including psychiatry and therapy. This article was written by Erisa M. Preston, PsyD, a psychologist and Regional Psychotherapy Director with Mindpath Health in Torrance, California. Mindpath Health is a leading provider of high-quality outpatient behavioral health services, offering in-person and online visits. We coordinate care with primary care physicians and referring providers to ensure a focus on total health. Visit mindpath.com to partner with us. We have locations in Arizona, California, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. We offer TMS in California, North Carolina, and Florida. Learn how TMS can help here. We offer Mindpath On Demand in North Carolina, providing urgent therapy and psychiatry. Schedule an appointment at mindpath.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mindpath-health-releases-daddy-issues-understanding-attachment-trauma-302066359.html SOURCE Mindpath Health |