Ethological Theory Of Anxiety Essay

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Anxiety is indescribable and inexplicable in the way that it can creep up from out of nowhere without a trigger as well as its ability to be triggered by a thought, word, person, place, or object. It is often a silent terror that works itself around in the conscious and subconscious mind that can begin to manifest itself physically by ways of body tremors, uncontrollable crying, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, and fatigue. Anxiety, as a whole, can be broken down into several categories: what it is biologically, psychologically, and genetically; where it stems from in both environmental and biological facets; who can develop the disorder; when it can occur at each age stage; why it occurs and what can trigger it; and how it can be …show more content…

Children form a strong attachment at birth to their mothers and often seek them out for comfort. In the ethological theory of attachment, infants have an emotional tie to their primary caregiver that promotes safety and survival. (Berk. 2014.) The ethological theory of attachment has three stages: the preattachment phase, attachment-in-the-making phase, and the clear-cut phase. The pre-attachment phase is from birth to six weeks of age and is where the infant bonds with the mother but is not yet attached to her. The attachment-in-the-making phase is from six weeks of age to 6-8 months of age and during this stage the child reacts differently to other people than they do to their primary caregiver; this is the stage at which they develop their sense of trust because they learn their actions cause a desired reaction in their caregiver. The third stage, the clear-cut stage, is from 6-18 months and the attachment to the primary caregiver is stronger. This is the stage at which separation anxiety begins to manifest when the child is separated from their trusted caregiver. (Berk. 2014.) So it is safe to say that anxiety can appear as early as six months of

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