Bowlby formulated a model of development with clearly articulated implications for psychopathology. In his 1973 volume, he highlights how threats to the availability of attachment figures, together with defensive processes and distorted communication within the parent–child relationship, can result in symptomatic expressions of fear, anger and sadness. From infancy specific emotions accompany an individual’s appraisal of the availability of an attachment figure. These emotions normally serve important motivational, selfmonitoring and communication functions for the individual (Bowlby 1969/1982). He also illustrates (1973) how attachment processes contribute to childhood anxiety disorders and phobias. Anxiety can be considered the fundamental condition underlying insecure attachment. He distinguishes between ‘true phobias’ (in which a child is afraid of something in the environment, such as spiders or snakes) and ‘pseudo-phobias’ (such as school refusal or agoraphobia). Bowlby suggests, that unlike true phobias, these may be better understood as resulting from the absence or feared loss of an attachment figure. Thus fear and worry about the availability of the attachment figure may result in a child’s staying home to monitor the parent closely. He nevertheless leaves open the possibility that phobias may develop through conditioning and avoidance learning. Read the rest of this entry »