| Anxious: The anxiously attached child tends to be overly clingy, and to become excessively upset when separated from their mothers. Anxious children seem to be eager to please and superficially compliant. The are usually passive aggressive, persistently doing little things wrong but never doing anything really bad so that the parents are left feeling like the child is driving them crazy. They are usually excessively "chatty." Often these children are mis-diagnosed as having "over anxious disorder." These children often recover much more quickly than other children with attachment disorder. |
| Avoidant: Children who have avoidant attachment disorder tend to be quite isolated and don't particularly care whether or not they have closeness or relationships with others. Their rejection of affection can make them appear similar to ambivalent children but the difference is that ambivalent children push affection away because they don't want anyone to have control over them. Avoidant children simply don't enjoy being around others because they don't feel safe. They are constantly on alert against attack from others and are hyper vigilant. Avoidant children have tremendous feelings of omnipotence, believing that they can care for all their own needs by themselves and don't need others for anything. As a result, they are often sullen and openly oppositional, but primarily in a passive aggressive way. |
| Ambivalent: children who have attachment disorder are usually openly angry and defiant. They are usually destructive both with their own belonging as well as with the belongings of others. They are extremely difficult children to parent because they sabotage or destroy almost everything positive that happens to them. These children use manipulation to make others feel guilty. They are affectionate children only when they want something. These children do not have friends although they will say they do. If you ask questions like: "Who do you eat lunch with?", " Who invites you over to their house?" etc. These children keep friends only for a few. days. They lack the ability to give and receive love. They demonstrate a remarkable lack of empathy for others. They are often cruel to animals and other children. |
| Disorganized:
Some children with attachment disorder show a variety of symptoms; their behavior is grossly disorganized and bizarre, and shows features of the other types of attachment disorders at various times and for no apparent reason. These children often have atypical psychosis, bipolar disorder, and other neurological disorders. They tend to have family histories of mental illness. Their most disruptive behavior for parents is their excessive excitability (as distinguished from other children with attachment disorder who are usually moody.) Disorganized children are the most difficult to treat in therapy because they have so many different problems. They often require medication and out of home placement. |