Symptoms of emotional deprivation in children

Affective deprivation is a situation of lack of lack of care, protection, attention and attachment that a child suffers or has suffered from his mother or habitual caregiver during the first years of life. This affective lack may be due to a multitude of circumstances such as abandonment, abuse or o

Affective deprivation is a situation of lack of lack of care, protection, attention and attachment that a child suffers or has suffered from his mother or habitual caregiver during the first years of life.

This affective lack may be due to a multitude of circumstances such as abandonment, abuse or other less traumatic family situations that leave the child unattended on the affective and relational level.

The need for affection for child development

Throughout the first months and years, the human baby needs caresses, hugs, kisses and affectionate words that stimulate their growth and cerebral maturation. Without this affective warmth, without this maternal-filial attachment, neuronal development is not properly completed. We know that it is not enough to feed the baby to grow healthy, we must transmit affection and affection, make him feel loved so that he develops properly not only on the affective level, but also physical and mental.

In the current society in which we live, immersed in a frenetic activity and with inadequate working hours for family reconciliation, many children live without affection, affection and the emotional relationships necessary for their proper development. It is not necessary that the child be subject to extreme causes such as abuse, neglect, abandonment, long hospitalizations, separations or traumatic divorces, to be in a situation of more or less serious affective deprivation. Poor quality care contributes significantly to the deterioration of the child's development.

Children who spend hours and hours in front of the TV or computer screen are not enjoying the affection or the social or intellectual interactions that correspond to their age. This tendency to leave children with the virtual nanny for long hours creates an impersonal parenting style, guiding children towards technology and abandoning the human factor.

6 symptoms that your child has a lack of affect

Children who do not feel loved by their parents, with a cold, hostile, aggressive or negligent environment can end up developing more or less serious psychological disorders. The consequences of the emotional deficiencies suffered during the first years of life are often irremediable. Some of these symptoms are:

1. Problems with impulse control, with sudden changes in behavior and aggressive responses.

2. General distrust.

3. Poor language development and social skills.

4. Attention deficit.

5. Anxiety disorders.

6. Difficulties expressing feelings and problems to modulate them.

All these symptoms can reach adulthood by finding ourselves with self-centered people, with few social skills and emotionally dependent.