Attachment styles are patterns that emerge in our earliest childhood and play a crucial role in understanding individuals with personality disorders (PDs) and their treatment. Insecure adult attachment styles are divided into anxious/preoccupied, which are hypersensitive to rejection and show compulsive care- and attention-seeking behavior. Today, psychologists typically recognize four main attachment styles: secure, ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized.
Insecure adult attachment styles are divided into anxious/preoccupied, which are hypersensitive to rejection and show compulsive care- and attention-seeking behavior. Disorganized attachment styles are chaotic and characterized by rapid vacillations between extreme closeness and extreme distance, creating and maintaining unstable relationships. Some researchers have proposed that people with borderline personality disorder may be more likely to have insecure or disorganized attachment styles.
There are several types of attachment styles, including secure, anxious, avoidant, fearful, avoidant, and disorganized. Some of these styles include narcissism, borderline, histrionic, and antisocial. Attachment anxiety has a large meta-analytic correlation with Borderline PD, while attachment avoidance is also significantly related to BPD traits.
Disorganized attachment style has been associated with many personality disorders, particularly Borderline Personality Disorder. Research has indicated that individuals with BPD are predominately characterized by fearful and/or preoccupied attachment styles, but rates vary. Fearful attachment patterns are quite common among individuals with BPD, but it should be noted that fearful attachment patterns are quite common among individuals with BPD.
📹 Attachment Styles and Personality Disorders | What is Attachment Theory?
This video answers the questions: What is the attachment theory? How does attachment theory relate to personality disorders?
Which attachment style is linked with mental illness?
Attachment theory, originally developed to explain infant-parent emotional bonding, has been applied to the study of adolescent and adult romantic relationships and psychological processes such as interpersonal functioning, emotion regulation, coping with stress, and mental health. Research findings show that attachment insecurity, or attachment anxiety and avoidance, is a major contributor to mental disorders. Enhancing attachment security is crucial for successfully treating these disorders.
The attachment perspective on psychopathology intersects with the study of individual differences in adult attachment, highlighting the importance of understanding attachment insecurities in relation to mental disorders. Enhancing attachment security can facilitate the amelioration of psychopathology, enhancing self-regulation and emotional regulation.
Are BPD anxious or avoidant?
The study revealed a significant correlation between attachment anxiety and BPD traits (r = 0. 48), with attachment avoidance also exhibiting a notable effect (r = 0. 30). Additionally, the research indicated that attachment avoidance had a notable impact on BPD traits. Furthermore, the study underscored the necessity to acknowledge the utilization of cookies on the website and to adhere to the Creative Commons licensing terms for open access content.
What is the attachment style of OCPD?
Research shows that individuals with OCD tend to have a fearful attachment style, where they perceive themselves and others negatively and approach others with fear and suspicion. This fearful attachment style is prevalent among individuals with OCD. The site uses cookies, and by continuing, users agree to the use of these cookies. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B. V., licensors, and contributors.
What attachment styles are schizophrenics?
The prevalence of insecure attachment styles in people with schizophrenia is higher than in those without mental illness, with fearful attachment styles being the most prevalent. This effect is similar to that seen in people with depression or bipolar disorder. Anxiety attachment styles are similar across all three disorders. However, avoidant attachment styles are small for schizophrenia, medium-sized for bipolar disorder, and large for depression.
Small to medium-sized associations were found between increased general and positive symptoms and increased anxious and avoidant attachment styles. There was a weak association between increased negative symptoms and increased avoidant attachment style, and no significant association between negative symptoms and anxious attachment style. There were medium-sized associations between decreased social and personal recovery and increased anxious and avoidant attachment styles in patients.
What attachment style is paranoid personality disorder?
The study demonstrates a consistent correlation between insecure attachment styles and paranoia, with insecure anxious attachment exhibiting a stronger association than insecure avoidant attachment. These associations remain significant even when controlling for key confounding variables. The implementation of interventions designed to address insecure attachment representations may prove an effective method for the reduction of paranoia.
What attachment style is most common?
The study found that secure attachment style was the most common, helping medical students manage stress and establish relationships. Avoidant attachment style was more common among single individuals than married individuals. No significant relationship was found between attachment style and gender or grade point average. The mean happiness score of students was 62. 71, with secure attachment style, male gender, and scholar achievement being associated with higher happiness scores. The higher frequency of avoidant attachment style among single individuals was attributed to their negative attitudes and failure to establish and maintain relationships.
Do people with BPD get overly attached?
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) often have a strong attachment to their favorite person, leading to extreme actions like moving cities or making threats to maintain their attention. However, they struggle to establish safe, reciprocal relationships without fear of abandonment and insecurity. Therefore, it’s crucial to establish boundaries in relationships to prevent unhealthy interactions.
What attachment style is avoidant personality disorder?
Attachment plays a crucial role in the link between temperament, adverse childhood environment, and personality disorder (PD). An avoidant, detached, or dismissing atta
chment style, also known as an “anxious/avoidant” style, has been proposed to contribute to the development of AVPD. This style may be associated with a negative self-concept and a fear of intimate relationships. A fearful attachment style, which involves a desire for intimacy in the presence of interpersonal distrust and fear of rejection, has been identified as particularly relevant to AVPD.
Studies have confirmed the theorized relationship between AVPD and both anxious and avoidant strategies. The fearful attachment style may be the most disabling, as it is associated with negative views of both self and other. Research suggests that experiences with critical, demeaning, and neglectful early caregivers may increase the risk of developing a fearful attachment style. These findings are important because attachment style is highly relevant to assessment and treatment, as it makes it more difficult for a therapist to establish and maintain a relationship with individuals who are distrustful of others, hypersensitive to criticism and rejection, and rely on avoidant coping strategies.
What is the most problematic attachment style?
Disorganized/disoriented attachment style, also known as fearful-avoidant attachment style, is a form of insecure attachment that stems from intense fear, often resulting from childhood trauma, neglect, or abuse. Adults with this insecure attachment style often feel unworthy of love or closeness in relationships, as they have not learned to self-soothe their emotions. This can lead to feelings of fear and unsafe relationships, as well as the potential for abusive behavior in adult relationships.
Intimate relationships may be confusing and unsettling, with emotional extremes of love and hate. Insensitivity towards partners, selfishness, controlling, and untrusting behavior can also occur. Antisocial or negative behavior patterns, such as substance abuse, aggression, or violence, may also be present. Despite the desire for security and safety, individuals with this attachment style often feel unworthy of love and fear of getting hurt again.
What is the rarest attachment style?
Attachment styles, which describe how people relate to others based on their sense of security, are influenced by early childhood experiences. The rarest attachment type, fearful avoidant attachment, is characterized by high levels of anxiety and avoidance in relationships. This complex pattern often leads to a desire for intimacy but also fear of getting too close due to past traumas or negative experiences. The attachment style, which is shaped by early childhood experiences, has a lifelong impact on communication, conflict response, and relationship expectations.
What are the attachment styles of personality disorder?
Attachment theory is a biopsychosocial model that focuses on a person’s characteristic ways of relating in close relationships, such as with parents, children, and romantic partners. These ways of relating are learned during early infancy and mold subsequent intimate relationships. Adults who are securely attached have internalized a reliable relationship to their caregivers in infancy, which allows them to adapt to different social contexts and maintain an adequate equilibrium between self-regulation and interpersonal regulation of stress.
Insecure adult attachment styles can be divided into three categories: anxious/preoccupied (individuals hypersensitive to rejection and show compulsive care- and attention-seeking behavior), avoidant/dismissing (individuals hyposensitive to social interactions and socially isolated), and unresolved/disorganized (individuals unable to cope under stress and suffer pervasive affective dysregulation).
Attachment theory is relevant to the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness, particularly borderline personality disorders (PDs). The most recent psychotherapeutic advances based on attachment research are introduced for the treatment of PDs, particularly borderline PD. Three effective, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions are described: Mentalization-Based Treatment, Transference-Focused Psychotherapy, and Schema-Focused Therapy.
The attachment literature has been dominated by operationalized assessments of characteristic patterns of relating, with three distinct attachment patterns identified from the Strange Situation procedure: secure (63 of children tested), anxious/resistant or ambivalent, and avoidant. Adult attachment styles are classified as secure/autonomous (58 of the nonclinical population), avoidant/dismissing, and anxious/preoccupied. A fourth pattern of disorganized attachment, often termed unresolved/disorganized for adults and disoriented/disorganized for infants, is also revealed.
📹 The 4 Attachment Styles
Attachment style can determine the success of a relationship. Discover the psychology of how you relate to others—and how to …
When I was younger I didn’t trust my mum for my basic needs, sometimes she had protected me sometimes she had put me in danger. oftentimes she just forgot about me. So why should I been trusting anyone for anything now? They say avoidant personality disorders, I say avoidant survival strategy. Thank you Dr Grande
I have a lot of respect for the very lifelike notion of disorganized attachment. It leaves so much room for interpretation in the best way. Being mindful of everything that disorganized attachment could mean for each of my friends, family, partner, even my cats and dog(!) and people I work with … has allowed me to manage my expectations significantly better than I think I would’ve been able to without this helpful idea. And this seems to be leading to steadily more secure/organized attachment for us all. “Meeting people where they’re at” is probably something I attempt to do as a consequence of this, where it makes sense to do so. Sort of a lifesaver. Very informative article, btw — thanks for doing it. I think it’s important for sure.
Hi Dr. Grande, I really appreciate your articles on different theoretical orientations. I’m using them for supplemental information/support while I study for my clinical exam and the way you lay out the information has been so helpful in solidifying the information I obtained from a study program I am using. Thanks so much! 🙂
Absolutely correct that as psychoanalytic theory went out of fashion when Skinner and behaviorism was at its peak in the early 60s and the,70s, attachment theory fell out of favor. Developmental theorist Erik Erickson also had placed a high emphasis on attachment theory as the foundation of trust of others. I imagine you expand upon the theme of the historical theories of etiology in psychology in your grad lectures. It is important that we understand what has come before and the effort it took,to,get where we are in our field which of,course,will continue to develop in future. What concerns me most now that I am retired is how our field is put to,use in public policy and politics. WIth mental illness in particular, when I see popular movies that take an expose’ tone I cringe because each step that was taken since the mentally I’ll were first taken into religiously sponsored asylums through to today,with so much emphasis on pharmacological management of symptoms, each step was thought as more humane than what went before. Burning at the stake of the mentally ill believed to be possessed by the devil or demons ….to religious asylums where patients were often naked and chained not to punish them, but to prevent self harm…. …. to the later government run asylums and hospitals of the 19th century that used insulin shock and cold water therapies …to the mid 20 century when Thorazine was the treatment of choice to tranq patients to oblivion ala “The Cuckoos Nest” …..to the wholesale closing of those institutions heralded as progressive community mental health ala,Thomas Szaz, The Myth of Mental Illness, which politicians cited to save money so that the mentally ill were left to fend for themselves .
I have to admit to being somewhat fearful of relationships, due to narc abuse. So, this article is helpful to reinforce truths. Taking time to assess someone’s character is obviously essential to forming any attachments other than with dependant children. Thanks to these topics, it’s likely that everyone’s life improves. Nice one, Grande. 😎✔
Dr. Grande, would you be able to look into C-PTSD and PTSD and the theory that certain personality types and/or people with certain traits are more likely to develop a trauma-related disorder, whether it be PTSD, C-PTSD, DID or OSDD? Also, it would be helpful if you could bring your expertise to bear on the concept of three subtypes of PTSD, internalising, externalising and “simple PTSD”. There’s been some researchers who have connected high negative affectivity as a risk factor for PTSD and also the combination of this trait, neuroticism, with marked introversion or social inhibition, which some call “Type D personality”, as risk factors for developing this trauma-related disorder. I am wondering if there’s a case here for correlation not equaling causation i.e. that some individuals who develop PTSD or C-PTSD become more introverted and score higher on the neuroticism scale – as per the Big 5 or OCEAN test – after they’ve been exposed to trauma and develop PTSD or C-PTSD rather than being innately introverted or neurotic beforehand. The seeming comorbidity common to PTSD with findings from a few studies showing those with PTSD have higher rates of antisocial personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder (or BPD) is a matter I’m interested in and would like your thoughts on. It would also be very helpful to hear your analysis of the apparently three temperament -based subtypes of PTSD – internalising, externalising, and “simple PTSD” – and the relationships of these subtypes to certain personality disorders e.
This will definetly be my favorit article. And I will save it for future referens. You really cleared up the diffrent theories and made it easy to see the connetion with personality dosorders. I can fit my self in there. Hahaha! I have come a cross this concepts both as a student of behavior science and in my privat life attending a 12 step meeting. ACA (Adult children of alcoholics and other dysfunctional families). Now it will be a bit easyer to navigate my own healing. Thank you!
I recently finished reading the book “Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and…” by Dr. Amir Levine over Christmas and highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about attachment in adults and the importance of understanding attachment type in relationships (and to be mindful of the anxious-avoidant trap). The book also offers advice on how to relate to and improve communication between partners of differing attachment types. As someone who has struggled with Complex PTSD, and the physical disability and chronic illness all that past abuse caused, for the past 36 years (since age 12) and who has not been in any sort of relationship whatsoever in more than a quarter century I found the book very enlightening (I doubt if I’ll ever have a partner to test the advice against as I have never seen myself as worthy of love, but it was extremely enlightening and very well written nonetheless and I highly recommend the book…and I may still dream at least!).
Regarding the relationship with, ‘the mother’. I feel there is not enough, either studied, or spoken about regarding men. It seems that there is always a type of blame toward the mother. However, it seems that men (overall and of course not all men) … however, there does not seem to be enough identification with some men who abandon their children. I have seen this with young males, and even young females (myself for example). Men, do have a Tremendous amount of affect when they abandon their children, for young male children, they feel to feel insecure in becoming a man, as women cannot teach a male child to become a man. And female children do not learn how to pick a mate. I feel this places a Tremendous amount on a mom, with no, or extremely very little on dad. It’s unfair. Particularly for women who raise their children on their own. Yes, we, women, give birth and of course, breast feeding, closeness, attention go a very long way, and it is natural to us (or most of us) to do so. Yet, again, I do not feel there is enough, blame for lack of a better word–mostly because women get blamed–there has not been enough attention given to men’s roles in the raising of their children, or abandoning their children. This is really sad. In the news, if a child goes off and hurts others–it’s the mom. It seems to always be the mom. But that’s not fair. Men have a great deal to do with raising children or the lack thereof.
My base response to negative outcomes/worries is to boil everything down to the point that nothing in life matters. It’s like taking every positive advice you hear people give others and taking it to the extreme. Saps all the joy out of my life as i start to view family/friends as strangers that i have loose ties with (when deep down that’s not the case) Every celebration i partake in i feel no joy. The past 2 years I’ve suffered from emotional numbness and i’m still recovering. Last summer i was at my worst with that condition and i was on vacation for a week. Lived with my sister and her fiancee that week and we decided to meet up with our younger sister. Second i met my younger sister at the train station she just stopped and looked at me, I wasn’t malnourished or anything, i had nice clothes fresh haircut and all that, I reckon it was the eyes that put her off. Her reaction to meeting me scared me more than having the condition itself. I remember my sisters fiancee was on edge the whole week i was their guest. I felt like a robot/serial killer. But after this vacation i had a wake-up call and started to work on improving my mental health. Getting my own apartment drastically improved my mental state and now after a lot of work i can feel emotions again. Anyways, these articles has helped me out a lot and i appreciate the work you put into the articles.
Just a thought, Ted Bundy was left in a Home for Unwed mothers for 2 months before his mom’s parents went and got him. Also, Casey Anthony’s mom worked 12 hours a day and we dont know what her infant attachments were or if they were consistent. I think that infant attachment is crucial and more influential than we even realize.
Thx, Doc, and despite all the marketing and cultural emphasis on ‘relationships’, IMHO ‘attachment issues’ are actually a surprisingly common phenom that’s seldom discussed and also largely invisible, because ‘ya really gotta get to ‘know’ folks awhile before it becomes ‘obvious’. But even just doing ’em a favor or a simple kindness can often be kinda ‘risky’, ‘cuz outta the blue they may respond with some oddly inappropriate or ‘ingracious’ reaction, or if it’s especially ‘threatening’, they may even orchestrate some sorta obviously rude ‘F-U’ type of behavior… as if to say, “keep away!” And yeah, it often seems to be ‘co-morbid’ with Cluster B disorders, perhaps not surprising since they all seem to be linked to early nurturing and parenting issues. Which is a shame since they can often be very bright, interesting and charming individuals otherwise. But whatever is gonna ‘set them off’ can also be so unpredictable, that establishing even the simplest friendship with ’em can also feel a bit like entering a minefield. So short of just maintaining perpetually ‘yuge’ boundaries, have never found a satisfactory method for dealing with ’em or these sorta behaviors that become ‘self-reinforcing’.
Thank you once again for an excellent, scientific-based analysis of attachment theory and its relationship to personality pathology. I remember one of the first essays in the 1st year of psychology (at University) was about whether a child’s experiences during his/her first few years of development was important, and how. It involved studying various experiments typically conducted in the 1960s and earlier which were quite cruel (such as Harry Harlow’s Rhesus Monkey Experiments), as well as those involving institutionalised children such as those in orphanages who were not provided with much or only perfunctory physical attention, affection or loving treatments from any ‘caregivers.’ Not once did we study the relationship of attachment styles to personality pathology or personality traits in general which may have been due to the decrease in the popularity of attachment theory and the rise of interesting cognitive behavioural theory and therapies. Do you think the Preoccupied and Fearful attachment styles are often generated by trauma rather than just innate personality or genetic/hereditary?
I’ve listened to several different people talk about their attached and disorder types, and often felt confused or like some things were just put into a box. I watched this article twice and got a strong grasp and understanding as I try to understand myself better. I’ve read before of the role of the father, is there any connection here to that and what role it plays in the attachment development? Thanks again, great article. Also what self test can one take if any to better understand their attachment styles ect?
At university my last superior’s area of expertise actually was attachment theory. I never liked it too much, I found it to be square and narrow minded, uuhhhhh… made me want to escape, so I worked in some other project there. I don’t know how exactly you manage to do this, but your article about it is done in a sweet manner. People might get a false impression about academic psychology through your vids (too positive), but who cares… cutely done, doctor. 🐹 💗
The funniest thing about this article for me happens around min. 9:14, when a positive & negative view of oneself plus a positive & negative view of others is characterized as “disorganized attachment style”.To me this is simply a realistic view of the world and oneself, very organized. I’ve learned that a disorganized style comes from a approach-avoidance conflict, I think Dr. Grande mentioned it just yesterday in the last article (the one about schizoid personality disorder), which means that one desires something that is potentially dangerous at the same time. It is seen as (extremely) positive but with a price attached that is too high. For me this is not the same thing. Am I simply hairsplitting here or is this distinction justified? Any comments (agree, disagree) on that? 😃 Edit: sorry I think I was indeed a bit hairsplitting here. When something is broken down to make it easier to understand, of course the whole thing loses precision. I think I know how it was meant in the vid, thank you.
oh my. i will have to listen to this again to take it all in. I raised a stepson (no mom around) with attachment disorder. The only personality disorder mentioned was oppositional defiant disorder…very dangerous child. Finally found great counselors in Indiana at a treatment center focused solely on AD and then a counselor in Iowa that had a specialty in AD. He’s an adult now and even said recently..bet you never dreamed I’d turn out as well as I did. I could never imagined it considering where he started. AD is treatable but many counselors have told me it’s unusual. This is one heavy duty article!!
Thank you Dr. Grande! Relating attachment to personality the way you have is exceptionally helpful in understanding my own self and my own family dynamics, as well. I really appreciate this explanation. As a side, I find it so interesting that schizotypal personality disorder has no sense of self at all. I’m curious now about the relationship between it and schizophrenia, which I assume would have the same feature. Anyway, thank you so much for the content you put out onto this platform, it’s worlds away from the content we usually get on mental health!
This is so useful thank you Dr.Grande. I work in a Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT) service for men with personality disorder. One of the key theories underpinning MBT is Attachment Theory. One of the most challenging aspects has been to make links between a clients personality and their attachment style. Your breakdown of the differing attachment theories has really helped in that regard; we often found ourselves becoming bogged down by terminology from the differing models without realizing they were from differing models! Speaking of MBT, it would be very interesting to see you talk about it. I suppose to some extent it could compliment this article, as there is some evidence in the literature I believe that links different attachment styles to mentalizing capacity. The work of Peter Fonagy is of particular note.
For those out there who have some background in psychology I wonder how many of them feel like the more you read the literature in some areas of psychology the less you feel you know anything! If I could go back in time with the benefit of the accumulated experience of having read all kind of literature related to psychology in general would have chosen to pursue a graduate degree in Psychology? What a waste of time: I wish I would have chosen to become a plumber than a psychology degree which is a fake science: psychobabble shit!!!
I was anxious avoidant for a long time, bipolar OCD mom, I didnt like being completely alone, found doing things for others way easier than doing stuff for myself, and felt uncomfortable when people got too close. Increased social practice and neurogenesis from Ayahuasca and increased brain connections from magic mushrooms seems to be helped ALOT. Nootropics as well.
I believe based on how, I was an anxious preoccupied. When I had my second daughter I saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with ocpd. The fear of ruining my children caused me to seek years of therapy. My attempt to avoid them being abused by men and avoiding interacting with men on a deep level made me develop dismissive traits as an adult. I just ended my engagement because I truly believe his intentions are insincere. Over the last couple weeks, YouTube has exposed these theories and I’ve been binging on articles. I will be seeking therapy because this is overwhelming
Does US society recognize the importance of emotionally mature parents? I’d say no. Women are still expected to have children regardless of their maturity level or their lack of interest having them. It’s one of the 1st questions I get in a new social situation: do you have children? I don’t so it gets awkward quickly. That question should not be asked ever in a social situation. Ppl with children will tell you soon enough. And women should not be valued only for their children. My mother should never have had children. She didn’t like kids and she had other plans. But me grand parents, her religion, her community, and her friends pressured her into getting married. She had 4 children and tortured us relentlessly out of anger, resentment, and frustration. My father was complicit. My oldest sister eloped 3 days after turning 18 to escape my parents. My brother became a drug addict. My other sister has severe mental health issues. I am avoidant and fearful. If you want happy, healthy children, stop the expectation or requirement that women should have children. Provide birth control, sex education, parenting classes, to teenagers. Encourage education, not procreation. And for God’s sake, stop asking 8 year olds if they have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Not everyone should have kids. Look at the level of child abuse and teenage suicide in the US and tell me I’m wrong. As someone who suffered through the physical and emotional effects of a violent household, i would have preferred to have not been born.
Doctor, could you specify the intrapsychic conflicts that occur in the individuals with different attachment styles a little bit more? Some confusion has arised around this fascinating topic, of which an answer I think could be interesting for many of us… 😊 Thank you for this in advance and all you do and did. 🌹 P.S. And please tell me if we’re going to experience some sort of winter in this part of Europe.😉 It’s raining and storming for weeks in Germany, but no snow this winter at all… 🙁
The question arises concerning attachment styles in infants and very young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the reaction of “Neurotypical” mothers who find these (undiagnosed) children uninterested, incomprehensible, and either frustrating or a reason to consider themselves maternal failures. Additionally, mothers and infants who experience a prolonged period of separation through situations of prolonged illness or incarceration, thus losing an opportunity to bond until the child is older – and no loving female surrogate is available. Would these children be predisposed to unhealthy attachment styles throughout their lives?
Thank you so much for looking into all these clinical studies for us. I have never heard anybody talk about this in such detail. If you wouldn’t teach this, I wouldn’t know. You should write books and give courses that could be booked internationally. Excellent work, thank you, this is motivating me to also do better.🌷🌷🌷
1.09 minutes in and already quite a profound idea that attachment may be an important determining factor in the issues listed as well as an ideological component to psychopathology – why wouldn’t it be? The connection between an infant/toddler/child and the mother during such important developmental stages seems like it would be an obvious predetermining factor for relationships in the future (trust, self reliance/neediness etc.) would all stem from that relationship at it’s core.
Can you do one correlating 16 part personality profile, attachment type, and the personality clusters? Maybe insights on personality profile and how it might corelate to attachment theory. Also very interesting to see how partnership dynamics change depending on their personality profile and how their attachment style adjusts to the partnership. thanks!
So here’s my 2 cents, based on the premise that emotional regulation is not innate, i.e., is learned through attachment style. If we apply that premise to Cluster B PDs, where emotion dysregulation often plays a prominent role, one could infer that attachment style could play a mediating role in Cluster B PDs.
I think that the individuals with preoccupied attachment style tend to be more caring in a way that’s probably over caring when it comes to their own parenting. Probably they do it because they, unconsciously, don’t want their children to have insecure attachment styles like they have. What do you think?
Dr. Grande, Thank you for the article! Very interesting! One thing that confused/surprised me was when you said the attachment style of ocpd was preoccupied. This surprised me because I thought you said in previous articles that people with ocpd were brought into therapy because they were not paying enough attention to their personal relationships. That seems inconsistent with a preoccupied attachment style as you described it. If I am missing something could you let me know? I know that you don’t usually answer questions from the comments directly, so maybe you could discuss this in another article? Again, thanks for all of your hard work, you are the content provider I watch the most. Kevin
Wow – Dr. Grande you’re on fire with the number of excellent uploads both late last year and now in 2020! This is a very complex, important, and fascinating subject matter. The conceptual model you’ve provided is definitely a good way to fairly quickly examine someone with a personality pathology using attachment theory, and I found it very interesting to examine the different attachment styles, modes of self, and of others, and the beliefs held by individuals with different personality disorders. Thank you for examining this complex subject with your combination of scientific research and evident empathy.
I have avoidant personality disorder and I always thought I had a mix of dismissive attachment style and the fearful attachment style. I just don’t feel like I fit the preoccupied on at all, but the again I always feel very confused about what I feel, I’m not sure I feel what I should be feeling most of the time.
Thank you Dr Grande 🙏🏽 This article is appeasing to my analytical approach in understanding the links to behaviour based on trauma (bonding and attachment). The analysis is pertinent to accessing a best therapy to unlock these patterns ~ if such a thing is possible for some. As I was recently able to unlock a belief that has been running since birth – not nursed/nurtured – I do sense hope for others if they are willing to accept their traumas and to heal them. This requires letting go of those formulated beliefs and recreation of healthy alternatives 💞
Thanks for the interesting content. Related to attachment and healthy psychological and emotional development of the child, could you please analyse the evidence on the need of the (biological) mother to mainly provide the secure environment and the need for the mother to stay at home for years. I’d be particularly interested learning more about the influence of both parents sharing parenting, e.g. mother staying at home for the first 6 months and father 6 months thereafter, and the influence of putting children to day care at the age of ca 1.5 years. These are normal arrangements in the Nordic countries but not very acceptable in many others. I have seen some evidence of positive effects to the child, and wonder where the wholistic scientific evidence stands.
thank you for sharing! that was very concise and helpful 😀 its a really good way to overview a subject as ample as personality pathology, the bitesized bidimensional view of how self and other are comparatively makes it less overwhelming and comfortably systematic since it can get overwhelming when the lines between the cluster classifications can get so blurry
How many people spend thousands of dollars on professional psychologists to help them exchange their past traumas and secret hatred/resentments for past hurts with positive reinforcement that they are good people, from the professional clinician. Eventually, he can declare them cured when their symptoms are all checked off. Cured? Or has the patient simply embraced the psychologist’s positive assessment of their worth, replacing their negative assessment based on a belief that the psychiatrist is a doctor and must be right? Rather than being cured, have they instead simply received a veneer of a positive self-image that temporarily silences their conscience. Soon the guilt for their prideful anger for past hurts returns. So, as sure as the sun rises, they return for more reinforcing words that it is the disease and not them that causes their so-called disorder. It’s a win-win. The patient is “healed” which means the “treatment” worked but returns “unhealed” which means some other phobia, trauma, or disorder must be afoot. The patient spends more money to get the ego high and the therapist gets to buy that new sailboat he’s been dreaming about. Which syndrome, disorder, phobia, trauma are you suffering? Pick one and go find a psychiatrist in your area to fix you. 1\tAbsence seizure 2\tAbulia 3\tAcute Stress Disorder 4\tAcute Stress Reaction 5\tADHD 6\tAdjustment Disorder 7\tAdjustment Disorders 8\tAgoraphobia 9\tAkiltism 10\tAmnestic Disorder 11\tAnankastic Personality Disorder 12\tAnorexia Nervosa 13\tAnterograde Amnesia 14\tAntisocial personality disorder 15\tAnxiety Disorder 16\tAnxiolytic Addiction 17\tAnxiolytic related disorders 18\tAsperger’s Syndrome 19\tAsthenic Personality Disorder 20\tAttention Deficit Disorder 21\tAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 22\tAutism 23\tAutism Spectrum Disorder 24\tAutophagia 25\tAvoidant Personality Disorder 26\tBarbiturate related disorders 27\tBenzodiazepine-related disorders 28\tBibliomania 29\tBinge Eating Disorder 30\tBipolar I 31\tBipolar II 32\tBody Dysmorphic Disorder 33\tBorderline intellectual functioning 34\tBorderline mental retardation 35\tBorderline Personality Disorder 36\tBreathing-Related Sleep Disorder 37\tBrief Psychotic Disorder 38\tBruxism 39\tBulimia Nervosa 40\tCatatonic disorder 41\tCatatonic schizophrenia 42\tChildhood Disintegrative Disorder 43\tChildhood-Onset Fluency Disorder 44\tCircadian Rhythm Disorders 45\tClaustrophobia 46\tCocaine related disorders 47\tCommunication disorder 48\tConduct Disorder 49\tConversion Disorder 50\tCotard delusion 51\tCyclothymic Disorder 52\tDelusional Disorder 53\tDementia 54\tDependent Personality Disorder 55\tDepersonalization / Derealization Disorder 56\tDepersonalization disorder 57\tDepressive personality disorder 58\tDerealization disorder 59\tDermotillomania 60\tDesynchronosis 61\tDevelopment Disorder 62\tDevelopmental coordination disorder 63\tDiogenes Syndrome 64\tDisorder of written expression 65\tDyspareunia 66\tDissocial Personality Disorder 67\tDissociative Amnesia 68\tDissociative Fugue 69\tDissociative Identity Disorder 70\tDyslexia 71\tDyspareunia 72\tDysthymia 73\tEating disorder NOS 74\tEkbom’s Syndrome (Delusional Parasitosis) 75\tEmotionally unstable personality disorder 76\tEncopresis 77\tEnuresis (bedwetting) 78\tErotomania 79\tExhibitionistic Disorder 80\tExpressive language disorder 81\tFactitious Disorder 82\tFemale Sexual Disorders 83\tFetishistic Disorder 84\tFolie à deux 85\tFregoli delusion 86\tFrotteuristic Disorder 87\tFugue State 88\tGambling Addiction 89\tGanser syndrome 90\tGender Identity Disorder 91\tGeneral adaptation syndrome 92\tGeneralized Anxiety Disorder 93\tGrandiose delusions 94\tHallucinogen Addiction 95\tHaltlose personality disorder 96\tHistrionic Personality Disorder 97\tHyperactive/Impulsive type 98\tHyperkinetic syndrome 99\tHypersomnia 100\tHypoactive sexual desire disorder 101\tHypochondriasis 102\tHypomania 103\tHysteria 104\tImpulse control disorder 105\tInattentive type 106\tIntellectual Development Disorder 107\tIntermittent Explosive Disorder 108\tJoubert syndrome 109\tKleptomania 110\tKorsakoff’s syndrome 111\tLacunar amnesia 112\tLanguage Disorder 113\tLearning Disorders 114\tMajor Depressive Disorder 115\tMale Sexual Disorders 116\tMalingering 117\tManic Depression 118\tMathematics disorder 119\tMedication-related disorder 120\tMelancholia 121\tMisophonia 122\tMorbid jealousy 123\tMultiple Personality Disorder 124\tMunchausen by Proxy 125\tMunchausen Syndrome 126\tNarcissistic Personality Disorder 127\tNarcolepsy 128\tNeglect of child 129\tNeurocognitive Disorder 130\tNeuroleptic-related disorder 131\tNightmare Disorder 132\tObsessive-Compulsive Disorder 133\tOneirophrenia 134\tOnychophagia 135\tOppositional Defiant Disorder 136\tOrthorexia (ON) 137\tPain disorder 138\tPanic attacks 139\tPanic Disorder 140\tParanoid Personality Disorder 141\tParkinson’s Disease 142\tPassive-aggressive personality disorder 143\tPathological gambling 144\tPedophilic Disorder 145\tPerfectionism 146\tPersecutory delusion 147\tPersistent Depressive Disorder 148\tPersonality disorder 149\tPervasive developmental disorder (PDD) 150\tPhencyclidine related disorder 151\tPhobic disorder 152\tPhonological disorder 153\tPica 154\tPolysubstance related disorder 155\tPost Traumatic Stress Disorder 156\tPostpartum Depression 157\tPost-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) 158\tPremenstrual Dysphoric Disorder 159\tPrimary hypersomnia 160\tPsychogenic amnesia 161\tPsychoneurotic personality disorder 162\tPsychotic disorder 163\tPTSD 164\tPyromania 165\tReactive Attachment Disorder 166\tReading disorder 167\tRecurrent brief depression 168\tRelational disorder 169\tREM Sleep Behavior Disorder 170\tRestless Leg Syndrome 171\tRetrograde amnesia 172\tRetts Disorder 173\tRumination syndrome 174\tSadistic personality disorder 175\tSchizoaffective Disorder 176\tSchizoid Personality Disorder 177\tSchizophreniform disorder 178\tSchizotypal Personality Disorder 179\tSeasonal Affective Disorder 180\tSelective Mutism 181\tSelf-defeating personality disorder 182\tSeparation Anxiety Disorder 183\tSexual Addiction 184\tSexual Disorders Female 185\tSexual Disorders Male 186\tSexual Masochism Disorder 187\tSexual Sadism Disorder 188\tShared Psychotic Disorder 189\tSleep Arousal Disorders 190\tSleep Paralysis 191\tSleep Terror Disorder 192\tSocial Anxiety Disorder 193\tSociopathy 194\tSomatization Disorder 195\tStendhal syndrome 196\tStereotypic movement disorder 197\tStimulant Addiction 198\tSubstance-related disorder 199\tTardive dyskinesia 200\tTransient global amnesia 201\tTransient tic disorder 202\tTransvestic Disorder 203\tTrichotillomania 204\tUndifferentiated Somatoform Disorder 205\tVaginismus 206\tVoyeuristic Disorder
Hi Dr. Grande, thank you for another excellent, informative article. Question of discrepancy for you if you can help: Dr. May says the anxious/preoccupied is the most common attachment style for BPD in this article : youtu.be/A85l7yO4c48?si=-eO10pIg9Mdz9BIX Yet don’t you believe it’s more prevalent with the disorganized like you said? Thank you for the help.
Attachment theory might not be supported by a lot of empirical evidence; therefore, it’s not a sound scientific theory. However, as a functional model, I think it works very well. For the layperson, I think flawed but functional beats peer-reviewed but marginally useful. Very good article. It terms of personal experience, I’ll accept the possibility of having a personality disorder, but statistics just don’t support my having dated so many Borderlines! (Fearful/Disorganized, however, offers a very practical grouping of common characteristics that I seem to keep encountering).
Dr Grande do you remember seeing any research done on those who were colic as babies – typically the first 3 months of life? My daughter was colic with a capital C. She screamed and cried unusually loudly (I was sure she’d grow up to have an incredibly powerful voice!) and while I spoke with several mothers who said they couldn’t take it and had to hand their baby to a neighbor, relative or friend willing to endure the non-stop crying, I continued white knuckling it day after day for Long Lonely hours holding, rocking or singing to her because I felt leaving her to cry alone would be abandonment. I’m not one to take the easy road in favor of doing what I think is best (unfortunately). I also saw the benefit of leaving her in a room to cry – but she spent the entire day crying/screaming. Of course I was horribly fatigued and stressed and felt the tragedy of my baby never making eye contact with me. 20 yrs later I feel those colic days never ended. I still white knuckle it. She was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder but has always had the irritability, distrust and angry outburst issues but now all the 9 traits of BPD. Her father has all the same traits but milder. And – he WASNT colic! I can certainly see that disorganized attachment theory fits her. Can you shed any light on “our beginning” and how it may have shaped her character or recommend any readings? This is one of the most enlightening articles of yours that I’ve seen. THANK YOU.
It seems so hard to change core content and the model of self. I wonder what the odds of change are after therapy and what amount of time is needed to see progress? Does psychoanalytic therapy even have positive outcomes? Sometimes it seems like it messes too much with the head. What are the subconscious thoughts? What are the origins of beliefs? As if we are stepping backwards instead of forward. Always contemplating on the past? Isn’t that a waste of time? Why mess with things long forgotten?
Schizotypal can be dangerous.The one I know on her 55’s peculiar at first dropping small hints.Using tenants personal things, moving the items a bit,razor blade, towels, toilet paper,deliberately damaging the bathroom sink, shutting/ slamming doors and speaking to herself a little.. One night there was activity outside for one hour by the main entrance she was walking around then three different times she quietly went into the house.. Well the following day my car was damaged in the back bumper? Her SUV has the front plate missing and a dent cut out.. Sure I think she scratched my car.
Dr. Grande, I was lucky to see my own limitations and learn psychology to help those around me. My mother, sister and extented family’s lives as everyone has problems. It wasn’t enough for me to be a punk rocker blaming my mother for my failure. Patients can heal with CBT in personality disorders like mine. My advice to anyone listening to the article, don’t give up on your relationship first to avoid pain even if they break off with you” last “it still is painful. Goes for job seach or working for a new job as well as love attachment.
Dr. Grande I believe what you are saying. As a caregiver I would see it as far more worrisome concerning Personality if someone trying to cope with recovering from a potential fatal illness wasn’t grateful for the treatment they were getting there while constant looking for an exit from there after being brought to the medical facility for treatment for COVID-19 if I witnessed some inappropriate behavior indicating that someone has a secure attachment style when not wanting to go home and back to work yet because it might be too soon. That to me showed they were not overconfident about how well they will be able to fulfill their duties after leaving the hospital. And so I wouldn’t automatic assume that patient has conduct disorder, Dependent PErsonality disorder, Hystrionic Personality disorder etc. just because they threw a tantrum without hurting anybody there. At least that patient is capable of forming attachment to the people who are caring for them. I’d be far more concerned about that patient’s personality problems maybe developed through a high fever and childhood experiences if they were always trying to leave the medical facility while they had no children under the age of 8 to protect from others who had harmed them permanently. To me breaking confidentiality about a patient like that would not be part of my Hippocratic oath nor would it be showing any kind of respect to my elders. if I were a doctor. People with PErsonailty Disorders for sure often believe they are unique and special while believing that others are not equally as so while at the same time believing that all of us human beings are far more alike than each of our own uniqueness.
I feel like Dr. grande is portraying the attachment theory a little bit unfairly as more chaotic than it actually is. I would like to state that attachment theory is my favorite theory so I may have a positive bias. I find the theory really helpful and as I understand, part of the nomenclature is just aliases for the same or very similar concepts. Part of it are just rotations of the two dimensional space of the first two principal components of the attachment. The fearful avoidant and disorganized is a bit mess I admit since in some theories it’s missing (they made three regions on the plane instead of four). I guess Dr. Grande perhaps doesn’t understand this and doesn’t conceptualize the whole theory into once coherent whole in his mind due to this. I would appreciate if Dr. Grande pointed out that the attachment theory is basically a principal component analysis (PCA) of interaction between mother and child. They put mothers and their small children through few testing situations and observed their behaviour and coded it into multidimensional data, which was then analyzed by PCA. I also find a bit unfair the part about psychoanalysis and its popularity. If you base your theory on scientific observation and PCA I don’t think it matters so much if it’s derived from psychoanalysis or not. Important it’s based on experimental data and statistical techniques.
Encouraging students to read statements made by people like MAya Angelou and the Dalai Lamma along with reading sacred texts outside of classes too would help psychology students maybe understand better how to interpret computer data as being only one source of reliable information that is supposed to hlep them diagnose what someone’s attachment style is. Computer data looked at along with statements from their other family members whom they grew up with in the elementary school years, their family background, and whatever photographs taken of them upon admission into any hospital and emergency wards they have visited along with reliable lab results were found in their medical history still available if any.
Is the ‘positive view of self, negative view of others’ a loose generalization or core aspect of the dismissive attachment style? What about people who rely on themselves and distance themselves from others because of shame and fear of vulnerability. This would be a negative view of self but a neutral view of others, but it seems to fit some definitions of dismissive avoidant while failing to fit others.
The great thing about Dr. Grande is that, though what he doesn’t know about psychology could fit on a pinhead, he can explain concepts and give examples of everyday behavior in an easy-to-understand manner. I find that if there is anything I want to know about psychology, I’ll search his website and, more likely than not, there will be a article about it. Am I showing my attachment style if I say please, please, never go away Dr. Grande ?
Previously I thought I had anxious attachment, and then I switched to being more avoidant. My therapist agreed with me on that hypothesis. She used an assessment with me and turns out I’m disorganised. Well, it makes sense now. My mom was hot and cold when I was growing up. I hated her, she hated me, and sometimes she would be nice. I’ve always wondered when she started hitting me. I feel like that matters since my therapist has alluded to my having a weak sense of self. Interestingly, I don’t experience much dissociation, and I’m glad for that because the disorganised thing is enough of a curveball.
I’m looking for advice or answers. It seems to me my ex was an FA. When we met the connection was immediate. We fell in love very quickly, there was a deep connection, we both felt like we were the lives of each other’s lives, and so began our relationship. She introduced me to family, pursued me all the way, and made endless promises about our future. I’m a securely attached person but can be flipped to anxious if my intuition feels like something is off. I let this play out and was careful to always make sure she was honest and secure in what she wanted. Everytime I looked for a red flag what I got instead was assurance of a good relationship. After a few months things changed dramatically, it started with her withdrawing from my family Christmas. This was for various reasons as she is pursuing her PHD and was busy, she out of nowhere said we had only been together a few months which in any case would be understandable but until then she was completely on board and honestly moving things forward herself in a very fast manner. After this I felt something was off. What I would call a slow fade began. Messages got less emotional first, then she wanted to see each other less, then even less and with less communication between the dates. I could feel something was off but decided to be understanding and give space. One day she finally came clean and unloaded her feeling for half an hour and I was in such shock I didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t ready for commitment, didn’t know if she ever wanted to be married or have kids, wanted to pause the intimacy ( for spiritual reason I’m on board with actually ) wanted more time to herself, and basically went back on every single thing she had said.
The two latter “theories” are more specific to Adult Attachment styles. The AAI, the self report questionnaire, and the AAP are the instruments used to assess Adults attachment styles, which are worded differently than the original Attachment categories. The Strange Situation or The Attachment Q-sort are used for assessing children’s attachment styles. I feel a distinction should have been made. There’s fragmented information here. Take the time to explain, I’d rather watch 20 min than have a mixed up theory.
My dad died when I was a year old, my malignant narcissist mom went to work and I was cared for by my grandmother who was very cold. My mother remarried when I was 10, my stepdad was a nice man but codependent and both he and my mother were alcoholics. I can form relationship but they are unhealthy, usually with narcissists. And end badly. One boyfriend was a malignant narcissist just like my mom. I have friends, but I no longer trust people and so keep a certain distance. Never married. Didn’t want to.
If there is one thing that I have gained from perusal your articles it is this: complexity and the unsuredness (provisionality) of connections of ideas (theory), which leads me to say, ‘thank goodness I am not a clinician, responsible for the mental diagnosis of patients’. How in a field of research with so many disputed, unverified ideas (names), can one act, in practice, with confidence? I have spent, as a layperson, a lot of time gaining some purchase on feelings following psychological abuse, ie. validation of emotions, and that is just MY emotions, never mind your complex hypothetical scenarios and the wider world of situations. I can’t help feeling that my ‘validations’ might fall below the mark set here! Or, alternatively, you are simply making things far more complicated than they really need to be.
I’ve been perusal your website off and on for probably a year or so and this is my first comment. I watched this article from start to finish, and my comprehension up to 10:21 was probably in the teen percentile, and I almost turned it off. When you started to describe the personality disorders, my comprehension increased to about the forty percentile range, I wanted to understand the subject matter here. I rewatched, backed up when necessary which was often, I mean a lot, and listened repeatedly to the same sentences, thoughts and explanations until I reached my maximum level of comprehension. I probably spent an hour, maybe more with this article. Based on my total comprehension which I still don’t think is very good, I believe I am a preoccupied dependent AVP. My brother, whom I love dearly but cannot stand due to his irrational and abusive behavior, is a malignant narcissist in the fearful dismissive attachment style (I think). I once scored 129 on an an I.Q. test given by a friend who was a university professor. I either lost a few dozen points since or need a score higher than 129 to understand what was said here.
So in other words someone with no attachment style could be chamelion like in their attachment style along with changing the details in whatever content they are using to paint their real targets whom they are taking advantage of in their comments to others from day to day. So in other words a psychopath will paint their target in whatever portrait to their flying monkey that the soon to become flying monkey is most likely to hate the most. So in other words the target soon finds themselves often thinking that the current situation must be another case of mistaken identity.
With respect to terminology, I was taught to refer to the styles as secure, anxious-ambivalent, anxious-avoidant, and disorganised in children; in adults, they would be secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant. With respect to self-esteem/opinions of others, I was taught that in the fearful-avoidant quadrant, attitudes can also be unclear/confused in place of simply negative.
As someone with BPD, the correlating attachment style you described (disorganized) really resonated with me. I’d also just like to add that I find your voice and facial expressions very soothing, and perusal your articles always helps me to feel more at ease, no matter what sort of day I may be having.
Parents: truly love your children— just as they are! ♥️ I am so thankful that I gave my children all of my time when they were growing up. They were not overindulged, they were held accountable so as to help them learn the importance of self responsibility and self contribution to situations. They were allowed the opportunity to state their case when a sibling disagreement or a parent-child disagreement arose. They first had to take a cooling off period, then we would have a discussion with those involved; followed by a forgiveness and an acceptance period. All in all, I know my three adult children feel loved, valued, understood; and they know how to enact the feelings of accountability, responsibility, and forgiveness. They can “tuck themselves into bed each night knowing that they are loved very much”. My pediatrician once remarked, “I wish every parent felt like you about their role of being a mother.” I’ve never forgotten that huge compliment, and the sense of validation of what I was hoping to accomplish. All in all, I feel like I did a good job of being a mother. Of all the accomplishments I’ve undertaken in my life, motherhood is by far the most important. I’m so glad that I put my children first, that I poured so many life lessons into their upbringing. My eldest son is now a doctor (anesthesiologist), and he has a 13 month old baby. Recently, he sent me a photo of his baby daughter tightly hugging a stuffed animal (tiger) that we made years ago— when he was just 4 years old.
So does this mean if someone is diagnosed with bpd and they border on all of the other personality types, does that mean they have more than one type of style ? Psycology is very confusing. I’m so glad you break these articles down but I’m still a little confused. I probably shouldnt have asked this question, trolls please keep out ( lol ). 🙃
Thank you, this explained the differences very well and made it much clearer for me. Would you be able to do a article on how to prevent narcissism or personality disorders in children? I know discussing feelings is important but maybe you can elaborate? And perhaps what age would be “too late” for intervention? Thank you!
I am chronically unable to care and will never know, if it was due to hitting my head on bedside, cutting it AND getting epilepsy by it… Or I was born uncaring asshole with control kink. 😂 However my mom IS total opposite of me, emotional, histerical, neurotic forever-dependand… So I never respected her. 🙄 So maybe there are some bits of truth in this… 🤔