Our **Environmental Imbalance (Nurture)** describes the relational patterns we develop with our environment in response to external stress, instability, and unmet attachment needs. This section explores these patterns through a model known as **Attachment Theory**. Developed by John Bowlby, Attachment Theory explains how our early relationships with caregivers and the environmental world around us, shape the way we manage emotional bonds, trust, independence and external security. Depending on how how consistent, responsive, or neglectful our caregiving felt, there are **four** unique directional patterns of attachment that our bodies can learn to develop a dominance towards in order to maintain security and stability. While Attachment Theory labels these types as: - **Secure:** Comfortable with intimacy and independence, able to trust others and themselves. - **Avoidant:** Withdraws from closeness, values independence, and downplays emotional needs. - **Anxious:** Craves closeness and reassurance but fears abandonment and feels insecure. - **Disorganised:** Push pull dynamic of wanting closeness while fearing it, leading to inconsistency. I do not believe these categorisations to be entirely precise. Instead I have reorganised and expanded different types to create what I believe is a more concrete model for attachment behaviour. While **Avoidant** and **Anxious** types largely remain the same, I have divided Disorganised types into two separate groupings: **Appeasing**, which are **Mental** leaning, and **Controlling**, which are **Physical** leaning. In terms of **Secure Attachment**, I think it is more realistic to consider it as the pre-imbalance state that all attachment patterns develop from and aim to heal back towards. While someone can hold a Secure attachment, it is not treated as the complete absence of imbalance, but as a state where the relational imbalance created through the other attachment patterns no longer dominates behaviour. This can be achieved through a combination of both personal regulation as well as environmental stability, however if either of these were to become significantly disrupted, someone may fall back into the same patterns that formed their original relational imbalance state, whether Avoidant, Appeasing, Controlling or Anxious. --- # Second Level Subdivisions As there are no classical first level subdivisions for Attachment Theory we will jump straight into the second level of subdivision where we get the four attachment types. <div style="text-align: center;"> <img src="Assets/image7.png" class="theme-aware" style="width: 90%; height: auto; display: inline-block;" alt="My Diagram" /> </div> <div class="my-purple" data-canvas-target="mental"> <strong>Mental</strong> <div class="my-red" data-canvas-target="avoidant"> <strong> Avoidant [Mental/Mental] </strong> <p> <strong>Avoidant Types</strong> often learn through childhood that emotional expression did not lead to comfort, responsiveness, or connection, and was instead met with emotional shutdown, distance, or a lack of understanding. As a result, they may suppress their own emotional needs and desires in order to maintain control, while struggling to open up to those around them. For them, safety and security often revolve around distance, independence, and self containment in a world that feels too unreliable to depend upon. </p> </div> <div class="my-red" data-canvas-target="appeasing"> <strong> Appeasing [Mental/Physical] (Theoretical) </strong> <p> <strong>Appeasing Types</strong> may fear both intimacy and abandonment, becoming highly attuned to external relationships in order to manage internal stability. This pattern often develops in environments where care felt inconsistent, unpredictable or mixed with emotional threat, causing closeness to feel both desired and unsafe. As a result, they may focus on the needs, moods, and expectations of others in order to reduce conflict, prevent harm, and preserve their own sense of safety and regulation. This can cause their identity to become shaped around being needed, accepted or useful, rather than their own personal values or desires. </p> </div> </div> <div class="my-purple" data-canvas-target="physical"> <strong>Physical</strong> <div class="my-red" data-canvas-target="controlling"> <strong>Controlling [Physical/Mental] (Theoretical)</strong> <p> <strong>Controlling Types</strong> can develop in environments where safety felt chaotic, intrusive, or difficult to control. Rather than seeking reassurance through closeness, they may try to reduce uncertainty by questioning, testing, organising, or placing demands on their relationships to observe how they react. As a result, they may struggle to trust what they cannot fully understand, causing them to probe, challenge, or micromanage situations until they feel they have enough information to approach them safely. </p> </div> <div class="my-red" data-canvas-target="anxious"> <strong>Anxious [Physical/Physical]</strong> <p> <strong>Anxious Types</strong> often develop in environments where care was inconsistent, unpredictable, or emotionally difficult to rely on. Because connection could feel available one moment and withdrawn the next, they may learn to closely track the moods, behaviour, and availability of others in order to predict whether they are safe, wanted, or about to be abandoned. Over time, this can make external reassurance feel more reliable than their own inner judgement. When others become distant, unclear, or emotionally unavailable, they may pursue closeness more intensely as a way to restore security and stabilise themselves internally. </p> </div> </div> --- For each of the created four attachment types, I have added further Mental/Physical divisions to show what the third level of attachment subdivision may look like. Each description should, in theory, closer correspond to a relational imbalance associated with each of the levels of ability. All descriptions are theoretical and provisional. <img src="Assets/image5.png" class="theme-aware" alt="My Diagram"> <div class="my-red"> <strong style="display:block; margin-bottom:0.5rem;"> Avoidant [Mental/Mental] </strong> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="mental-avoidant"> <strong>Mental Avoidant [M/M/M] - Imbalanced Layer 8 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> A deep detachment from social connection itself, where closeness is mentally dismissed, numbed, or deemed irrelevant. This can create emotional distance, self containment, and a difficulty recognising relational dependence as something valid or needed. </p> </div> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="physical-avoidant"> <strong>Physical Avoidant [M/M/P] - Imbalanced Layer 7 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> A withdrawal from possible connection before it becomes externally real. The person is often aware of the role that relational connection offers but may be unsure how to access it, keeping distance through silence, avoidance, unavailability, or retreat in order to prevent vulnerability. </p> </div> </div> <div class="my-red"> <strong style="display:block; margin-bottom:0.5rem;"> Appeasing (Disorganised Avoidant) [Mental/Physical] (Theoretical) </strong> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="mental-appeasing"> <strong>Mental Appeasing [M/P/M] - Imbalanced Layer 6 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> Loses connection to their own needs, values, and identity in order to remain safe within the relationship. They may become quiet, agreeable, or internally self suppressing, adapting to what others need as they may believe it will form more reliable connections than if they were to trust their own desires. </p> </div> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="physical-appeasing"> <strong>Physical Appeasing [M/P/P] - Imbalanced Layer 5 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> Actively seeks to preserve harmony through visible accommodation, support, and compliance. They may please, help, soften conflict, or earn closeness by becoming useful to others, prioritising safety or stability from a felt lack of choice rather than from genuine desire. </p> </div> </div> <div class="my-red"> <strong style="display:block; margin-bottom:0.5rem;"> Controlling (Disorganised Anxious) [Physical/Mental] (Theoretical) </strong> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="mental-controlling"> <strong>Mental Controlling [P/M/M] - Imbalanced Layer 4 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> Tries to create safety by mentally analysing, predicting, or systemising their relationships. They may become hypervigilant around hidden meanings, inconsistencies, or possible threats, withdrawing into internalised frameworks until they feel they understand what is happening and how to respond safely. </p> </div> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="physical-controlling"> <strong>Physical Controlling [P/M/P] - Imbalanced Layer 3 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> Tries to create safety by actively testing, questioning, or managing their relationships. They may seek control through direct action, pressure, confrontation, or gathering information, using external responses to determine whether the relationship is safe, reliable, or about to shift. </p> </div> </div> <div class="my-red"> <strong style="display:block; margin-bottom:0.5rem;"> Anxious [Physical/Physical] </strong> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="mental-anxious"> <strong>Mental Anxious [P/P/M] - Imbalanced Layer 2 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> Remains internally preoccupied around how stable a relationship may be, often carrying sustained fear, tension, or frustration when connection feels uncertain. They may mentally circle around signs of distance, rejection, or abandonment, trying to regain a sense of security that may feel difficult to settle. </p> </div> <div class="my-orange" data-canvas-target="physical-anxious"> <strong>Physical Anxious [P/P/P] - Imbalanced Layer 1 (Theoretical)</strong> <p> Reacts directly and intensely when connection feels threatened, as uncertainty may be experienced as an immediate threat to safety. They may seek visible closeness, reassurance, or response through pursuing, protesting, escalating, or acting impulsively in order to prevent abandonment and restore connection as quickly as possible. </p> </div> </div> --- Like the Physiological Imbalance section, I'm unsure exactly how many attachment states we actively engage with. I believe that there is a primary state we tend to rely on, but that we also transition into other states depending on the context of our environment. While I do have some theories about how these might work, further testing would be needed in order to identify any clear patterns. --- <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-1"> <strong>Environmental Imbalance [Environment]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-2"> <strong>[Mental]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-3"> <strong>Avoidant [Mental/Mental]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Mental Avoidant<br>[M/M/M] - Layer 8</strong> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Physical Avoidant<br>[M/M/P] - Layer 7</strong> </div> </div> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-3"> <strong>Appeasing [Mental/Physical]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Mental Appeasing<br>[M/P/M] - Layer 6</strong> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Physical Appeasing<br>[M/P/P] - Layer 5</strong> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-2"> <strong>[Physical]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-3"> <strong>Controlling [Physical/Mental]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Mental Controlling<br>[P/M/M] - Layer 4</strong> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Physical Controlling<br>[P/M/P] - Layer 3</strong> </div> </div> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-3"> <strong>Anxious [Physical/Physical]</strong> <div class="canvas-grid"> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Mental Anxious<br>[P/P/M] - Layer 2</strong> </div> <div class="canvas-card level-4"> <strong>Physical Anxious<br>[P/P/P] - Layer 1</strong> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <span class="nav-buttons">[[6.1 Environmental Configuration (Nature)|« Back]] [[6.3 Environmental Rebalance|Next »]]</span>