Infant Anxiety

(by Gary F. Blessington)

Human psychology is a vast and complex field of consideration. Here, I touch on only one of the factors that I consider important, that of Infant Anxiety and the part it plays in the human experience.

It is my view that the emotional roots of the person are embedded in the very early years of human life, in infancy and very early childhood. At this time, the "cognitive" (versus the "affective") aspect of the human being is not at all well developed. The visceral element of experience is primary in the infant. The infant experiences hunger, thirst, physical discomfort or pain, heat and cold, loud sounds, bright lights. It is primarily a physical, not a psychological, being. It is a being which experiences and expresses various emotional qualities.

It seems quite reasonable to me that negative, unpleasant, physical experience creates in the infant a kind of "anxiety", a nervous tension to take action, but with no known specific course of action in mind.

For example: an infant may be uncomfortably cold. If it is held by its "mother" (or caretaker), it feels warmer and comforted. Without "thought", it associates the touch of being held with the warmth it experiences at the same time. Then, if the infant is laid aside (in the same circumstances) it will become uncomfortably cold again. The persistence of the cold environment is a source of anxiety for the infant, who wants the cold to end. If the caretaker returns and holds it again, that anxiety is relieved. This is the essence of how infant anxiety becomes associated with social interaction. It is the first level of many developmental stages in the infants growth.

The infant is powerless and totally dependent on social others. This fact is the root of general human anxiety (as an intense, non_specific, emotional experience). It is a sense of powerlessness, helplessness. It is a "reality" in the individual's human experience, an emotional memory buried deeply and irremovably in the brain.

The relief of that anxiety is the primary motivational factor in the social development of the infant. The initial emotional bonding with the caretaker is extended and becomes more complex over time through various layers of social interaction and experience, but the emotional root is that of Infant Anxiety.

In the more "mature" periods of life, we have gained resources that enable us to not feel helpless or "powerless". However, if these resources are destroyed, or if their destruction is threatened, that primal Infant Anxiety may be remembered with undiminished intensity. We "know" (remember) clearly what it is to be helpless and powerless, and we don't like that feeling at all!

It is at times like these that the idea of Infant Anxiety may be of use to us. For, in fact, we are no longer infants. We are not cold or hungry or in physical pain (hopefully). The original causes of that anxiety no longer exist (hopefully).

The point is, we do not have to allow much more subtle psychological factors to take on the level of importance that Infant Anxiety once did, under much different circumstances.

I have used an analogue in these regards to help me understand some psychological relationships. It has to do with a tree, an image, say of a large Maple or Oak tree. It is a large and mature tree with many limbs, branches, twigs, and leaves. The life "juice" of that tree comes from its roots, deep in the ground. The "juice" is our emotions and feelings. They are the underpinning of all the values we have, because in having a value it is the emotional quality we associate with it that gives it its "power" or relative importance. Even the "intellectual" or "cognitive" significance we grant something has its roots in the value we grant to intelligence itself and its applications. "Reason" owes its importance (value) to our "belief" in its power and effectiveness in dealing with the matters of life. That sense of power and effectiveness is an emotion, a feeling. It is not, in itself, a "thought", though we may speak of it in verbal terms.

The tree is similar to our psychological "structure", created over time. It is the collection of our personal set of values, beliefs, interests, preferences, and occupations. But the "juice" that gives life and meaning to this tree is the emotion or feeling that comes from the source, the roots. And there, we find Infant Anxiety, in its primal form.

As it ascends through the tree, it takes on a different color, perhaps, a different consistency. It is renamed, again and again, so that we don't even recognize its name. It is an "embarrassment", an "insult", a piece of "flattery", a bit of "pride" or "satisfaction". But, in its essence, it is Infant Anxiety and the relief of that Anxiety.

If a limb or branch is broken off, the tree doesn't die. This image is one way of understanding our own nature. The "juice" is still there, and it will find another way of expressing itself through new growth. We do not deny its source or its reality. But we also do not deny its expression, its "relief". It is part of a process, a "pressure" or "force" to live, this Infant Anxiety, and it operates in each of us, is expressed, in different ways.

In situations of extreme psychological suffering, it may be helpful to remember the helpless Infant that lies within us and to "take care" of that Infant ourselves, to give it our attention and affection and our own good wishes. Our physical Being (hopefully) is not in pain. It is not cold, hungry, or thirsty. We can try to let it rest, peacefully, and not be overly disturbed by the psychological refinements and complexities it has led to over our life. We need to understand, respect, and appreciate those emotional roots of our Being. It should not be too difficult to care for that Infant, even if it is oneself. Many times, others are so preoccupied with their own psychological interests that they have no time for or interest in ours.

Read our discussion about this essay here.