Characterized by a tendency to withdraw from emotional intimacy, avoid close relationships, or minimize the importance of emotional connections. In attachment theory, it describes people who learned early that emotional needs won't be met reliably.
From Latin 'evitare' meaning 'to shun' or 'keep away from.' The psychological usage developed through attachment theory in the 1960s-70s, describing patterns of relating that develop in response to inconsistent or rejecting caregiving.
Avoidant people often appear incredibly self-sufficient and independent, but this is usually a protective adaptation from childhood when emotional needs were dismissed or punished. They've learned to survive by needing no one, but this very strength becomes their relationship kryptonite - they struggle to let others matter to them.
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