Resolving Your Abandonment Issues
A fear of abandonment is the result of previous trauma or loss that makes you afraid of it happening again. You can have abandonment issues as a result of childhood neglect, a divorce, death of a loved one, or any other traumatic event. When someone feels that they have been abandoned, it can set certain repeating patterns in motion, especially surrounding relationships.
If the degree to which the issues affect the person’s life is significant, then they might be diagnosed with abandonment disorder. Only a licensed psychologist can make an official diagnosis of this disorder. However, even if the emotions and effects on the person’s life are not severe enough for a diagnosis, they can still have a tremendous effect on your quality of life, especially how you form attachments to others.
Abandonment Trauma
Abandonment trauma can appear in the form of anxiety, sadness, depression, clinginess, jealousy, fear of loss, control issues, and being an extreme people pleaser. Sometimes, the person with abandonment issues will do anything to please the other person so that they will not leave. Other times, the person will move quickly from one relationship to another, leaving before people get too close.
Abandonment does not have to be physical to have a lasting effect on your life. For instance, having a mother or spouse who is emotionally distant can have the same effect as a physical loss. Abandonment fears may start in childhood, but they can also develop at any stage in a person’s life.
Help for Abandonment Issues
A fear of abandonment can lead to codependency or the need to control others. It almost always leads to low self-worth. Abandonment fears can look like other emotional and mental health issues. It can take a professional some time to get to the root cause. Using alternative emotional releasing techniques can help ease these issues in some people. They can often work in conjunction with conventional therapies in many cases.
The good news is that you do not have to stay on the relationship roller coaster. Christina Kim has techniques to help you release the trauma, so call to schedule an appointment and discuss your needs.