Differences in attachment disorders in children and adults

There are various forms of attachment disorder, which naturally differ between children and adults. In children, attachment disorder is often caused by traumatic events. There are different triggers, often there are connections with physical and/or sexual violence, but also extreme neglect or a clearly intact parental home can lead to a child’s attachment disorder.

This has an extreme influence on the child’s behaviour. Depending on the form of the attachment disorder, the child has difficulties in interacting with important caregivers in the environment. This often manifests itself in ambivalent, i.e. ambivalent behaviour.

On the one hand, excessive trust is observed with a loss of distance, but on the other hand aggression or ignorance on the part of the important person is also observed. Furthermore, problems often occur when dealing with children of the same age. Often the affected children are also emotionally unstable and fluctuate between different emotional states.

These often include fearfulness, unhappiness, a lack of emotions and aggression against themselves and their environment. There are official diagnostic criteria for attachment disorders in children. As therapy, a long-term psychotherapeutic treatment is aimed at.

For adults, the concept of attachment disorder must nowadays be viewed from various perspectives. These include adults who already suffer from attachment disorders in childhood due to a trauma such as the one described above. This attachment disorder is often present if no appropriate therapy was carried out in childhood or if it was not carried out consistently.

This can lead to avoidance behaviour towards people in the immediate environment. Often the affected adults have not been able to overcome the traumas of childhood properly and are therefore strongly influenced and restricted in their everyday behaviour. Therefore, psychotherapeutic or psychiatric treatment should be sought. In today’s society, however, the concept of attachment disorder in adults is often equated with a tendency towards loose attachments and a fear of firm promises of a serious partnership. This can also be seen as a kind of attachment disorder, but it has less traumatic causes and does not necessarily have to be treated by psychiatric care.

Therapy

The treatment of a binding disorder is often a long process. A behavioural therapeutic approach is in the foreground. In order to create a constant safe environment, the treatment should take place in an outpatient setting, for example in a psychotherapeutic practice, if possible.

In general, the treatment should be supervised by a specialist in psychiatry or psychotherapy. This guarantees that the problems of the person concerned can be adequately addressed. Psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care is usually a process that takes years.

It is important that a secure and stable relationship between the person affected and the therapist can be established. Otherwise the success of the treatment is very limited due to the lack of trust of the person concerned. In this sense, there is no drug therapy for the attachment disorder. However, supportive medication can be given. In most cases the treatment of accompanying diseases is in the foreground.