Attached Yet Detached: Understanding the Paradox of Avoidant Attachment.

At family gatherings, my mom loved to joke about how she was the one who cried when she dropped me off at preschool for the first time—I didn’t even flinch. She would add, half-jokingly, that she was sad I didn’t know how to be sad. According to her, I showed no separation anxiety, no fear of strangers, and no excitement when reunited with her. I’d laugh along, brushing it off as a funny childhood quirk, never suspecting it might hold clues about how I relate to people as an adult. It wasn’t until I read about John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation experiment that the joke took on a whole new meaning. Turns out, my preschooler vibe was just the opening act in a lifelong attachment drama. Little did I know, this childhood behavior held subtle clues about my future relationships and coping mechanisms.

Attachment theory identifies four styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized. My focus here is on avoidant attachment, particularly how it manifests in non-romantic relationships and shapes lifestyle choices. Drawing from my personal experience as someone who lands on mild to moderate dismissive avoidant attachment tendencies on the spectrum and from my interactions with individuals in my life who have exhibited this style, I’ll explore the nuances of this attachment style and its implications.

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What Does Dismissive Avoidant Attachment Look Like?

Dismissive Avoidant attachment, while often misunderstood, provides valuable insight into how individuals navigate relationships and life.

This attachment often masks itself as independence and emotional control. Beneath the surface, however, lies a complex interplay of fears: abandonment, vulnerability, and rejection. Recognizing these behaviors is key to fostering understanding and growth.

Hyper-Independence:

Hyper-independence happens because of a loss of trust in others or a fear of being hurt or abandoned. Hyper independent people often have an intense fear of becoming dependent on others. (Fear of engulfment and abandonment)

• Prioritizing independence above all else

• Being hypervigilant to any sense of control or perceived threats to autonomy

• Relying almost exclusively on oneself and maintaining extreme self-sufficiency

• Reluctant to seek or accept help from others

• Projecting self-reliance and independence as a shield against vulnerability

  
  

Emotional Invulnerability:

While hyper-independence might seem like a strength on the surface, it often masks deeper fears of abandonment and vulnerability.

Fear of abandonment is the root cause of emotional unavailability. Dismissive Avoidants are uncomfortable and sometimes terrified of intense emotions and therefore create intimacy barriers to feel safe. These emotional walls may appear as detachment, emotional withdrawal or reluctance to engage in vulnerable conversions. (Fear of abandonment)

• Pulling away or deflecting during moments of physical or emotional intimacy to maintain a sense of autonomy and independence

• Creating emotional distance to safeguard against potential hurt or loss

• Prioritizing work, social life, and hobbies over building deeper relationships

• Keeping people at arm’s length when they get too close, only to miss them afterward

• Struggling to express affection openly and authentically and experiencing discomfort when others display strong emotions

• Suppressing, dismissing or invalidating personal emotions to maintain a sense of control and to avoid vulnerability

  
  

Avoidance as coping mechanism:

Avoidance is a strategy that shields Dismissive Avoidants from rejection by keeping others at a distance and never allowing themselves to get too close to anyone. (Fear of rejection and abandonment)

• Engaging in workaholism or time-consuming, at times risky, hobbies as a means of avoiding emotional reflection or processing.

• Hyper-focusing on caregiving or household responsibilities due to traditional gender roles and societal expectations

• Avoiding conflict through people-pleasing, stonewalling, emotional distancing, or reacting to arguments by becoming distant, aloof, or cold.

• Maintaining inconsistent communication or not responding when others reach out

  
  

High Self-Regard:

Beneath the surface of a dismissive avoidant individual's outward display of high self-esteem, self-sufficiency and self-reliance often lies a hidden layer of low self-esteem and hypersensitivity to rejection. (Fear of vulnerability and rejection)

• Appearing outwardly confident yet internally struggling with fears of being 'unlovable'

• Emotionally distancing to protect their sense of self and avoid vulnerability

• Hiding low self-esteem behind a facade of self-reliance and independence

• Maintaining a high opinion of themselves while showing low regard for others to reinforce emotional barriers

  
  

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How do Dismissive Avoidant behaviors manifest as coping mechanisms? Personal examples:

Most of the behaviors described below stem from fears of engulfment, abandonment, rejection and vulnerability. Here are a few examples of how I have used these behaviors as coping mechanisms:

Texting: I tend to be an inconsistent texter, often finding it difficult to respond or even look at incoming messages because it feels emotionally draining. Most of my family and friends’ group chats on WhatsApp have been muted for years, and I can’t recall the last time I actively participated in them. When I do reply, it’s usually minimal—like a reaction or a brief response. Holiday messages? I tend to ignore them entirely, as the emotional bandwidth required feels overwhelming.

Keeping in Contact/Socializing: I seldom call my family or friends, sometimes going years without reaching out. There are only a few people I regularly talk to. I tend to ignore calls from anyone I don’t have the energy to engage with. I’m comfortable walking away relationships that cause stress and rarely think about them again, even if they were once significant.

I consider myself a true introvert, lacking the need for much emotional vulnerability. I have a small group of friends I stay in touch with, but outside of that, I tend to isolate and am completely comfortable being by myself. I prefer staying home and being alone over socializing regularly. When I do interact with people, I’m open and communicative with those I feel close to, but I tend to stay quiet around others. I feel no desire to engage with people and don’t feel sad or upset when people don’t reach out.

Hyper-Independence and Workaholism: I've always been fiercely independent in my pursuits. At 15, I learned to drive, and by the time I was finishing my undergraduate studies, I had already completed a PG diploma in Journalism. At 19, I landed my first job on the editorial team of a marketing company, and later, I balanced working as a copywriter for an advertising agency while I was in graduate school doing on my MA in Psychology. I obtained a diploma in Web development, Sql, Sql server, Java and Oracle at 22. Shortly after, I worked as a web developer and UI lead for an IT firm, saving enough to fund my ticket to the USA—my ultimate destination to further my studies.

But the cycle didn’t stop there. I graduated with an MS and started working as a psychologist for the next twenty three years. Rest wasn’t an option for me. My life became a relentless pursuit of productivity, leaving no room to pause or process emotions. Even when I wasn’t working, I hyper-focused on running my household and caring for my children. And if I wasn’t doing that, I was volunteering. My house is and has always been spotless—not out of necessity, but because staying busy was my way of avoiding the feelings I didn’t want to process or confront.

Procrastination: Tasks involving emotional availability, like returning texts and calls, often feel insurmountable. Avoiding these tasks has become my coping mechanism when I feel overwhelmed, putting them off until I have no choice but to address them.

Conflicts: I have a strong aversion to conflicts. When one arises, I shut down and disengage, with anger being the only emotion I allow myself to express in the moment. In my mind, I’m protecting myself by avoiding further engagement. Revisiting the conflict or seeking resolution feels overwhelming and paralyzing. I resorted to stonewalling, trying to bury the issue and hoping the other person doesn’t bring it up again.

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Why is Dismissive Avoidant attachment a paradox?

The paradox of avoidant attachment lies in the tension between the need for connection and the fear of vulnerability. Past traumas and fears lead avoidant individuals to push away potential relationships, creating a cycle of detachment.

Dismissive Avoidants do crave human connection and interaction—it’s not that they don’t want relationships. However, their fears, childhood traumas, and past experiences lead them to push away the very relationships that could foster healing. Their attachment style is rooted in detachment, creating a contradiction that lies at the heart of their behavior.

That being said, acknowledging the patterns and behaviors that negatively impact your relationships is a crucial step toward transformation. Healing from an avoidant attachment style requires intentional exploration of one's patterns and underlying fears. Working with a professional, such as a therapist, can provide valuable strategies to gradually move toward a more secure attachment style.

Some of these strategies might include:

• Developing Self-Awareness: Identifying and understanding the behaviors and triggers associated with avoidant attachment.

• Embracing Vulnerability: Taking gradual steps to share your feelings and invite support from others.

• Redefining Independence: Realizing that leaning on others doesn’t diminish your autonomy but can deepen your relationships.

• Enhancing Communication: Cultivating skills to address conflicts and express your needs confidently without fear.

  
  

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How does Dismissive Avoidant attachment style show up in romantic relationships? Well, that’s a topic for another day.