Emotional neglect. Everyone has emotional needs. If your environment intentionally or unintentionally ignore those needs, it can be traumatic.
This article will be updated with further research and sources soon.
Sources
DEVELOPING THE COVERT TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE SCALE (COTES): A RETROSPECTIVE EARLY PSYCHOSOCIAL TRAUMA ASSESSMENT TOOL
Tiffany E. Vastardis PhD, LMHC, CCTP, CMHIMP
Clinical Education Specialist • Florida Residential Clinical Training Liaison • Mental Health Researcher • Licensed Psychotherapist • Clinical Trauma Specialist • Integrative Medicine Practitioner
Proximal Neglect
Though scarcely covered within the Counseling literature, the phenomenon of
emotional neglect, otherwise termed as proximal neglect or proximal abandonment, refers
to predicaments which can be “characterized as cold or critical parenting and denotes a
parent intentionally or unintentionally overlooking the signs that a child needs comfort or attention and ignoring its emotional needs,” (Schimmenti & Bifulco, 2015, p. 41). In
other words, proximal neglect can be perceived as acts of omission in terms of tending to
the psychological and emotional needs of another. A study investigating the effect of
such caregiver deprivation on medial temporal lobe functioning showed overactivation in
the left anterior amygdala and hippocampus (Maheu et al., 2010). These findings are
consistent with correlational research linking such emotional abandonment to the
development of anxious–ambivalent attachment styles in young children, and the onset of
Anxiety Disorders later in life (Schimmenti & Bifulco, 2015).
