Can Developmental Trauma Cause Someone To Disconnect From Their Needs?

 What someone may find, that's if they were to step back and reflect on their life, is that they are often out of touch with their needs. Or, perhaps, to be more specific, they are often out of touch with certain needs.

This can mean that they will typically be aware of their survival needs and even their intellectual needs, but that could be about as far as it will go. As for their emotional needs, then, these could generally be ignored.

It's Automatic

Still, this doesn't mean that this is something that they will consciously choose to do. They are then not going to think, 'right, I'm going to ignore my emotional needs now', as this is likely to be something that they won't even be aware of.

Consequently, a number of their needs will be overlooked and this is going to have a detrimental effect on their well-being. They can end up being aware of the effect of being this way but be oblivious to the cause.

The Outcome

There is the chance that they will often feel as though they are running on empty. So, feeling drained and emotionally malnourished will be something that they are used to, and they could often feel frustrated and agitated.

Then again, they could have a number of ways to push this information out of their conscious awareness. For example, their awareness could go fully into their head, which will allow them to more or less completely lose touch with the information in their body.

The Main Position

In general, one could spend most of their time in their head and so it is to be expected that they won't have a good connection with their emotional needs. For them to be in touch with their emotional needs, they will need to be in touch with their body.

It might not matter if they are by themselves or in the company of others, either, as this could be where their point of awareness typically is. Nonetheless, it could be a lot easier for them to connect to their emotional needs when they are in their own company.

No Chance

Naturally, in order for them to fulfil their emotional needs, they will need to be aware of them and express them when they are around others. If the first part doesn't take place, it will be highly unlikely that the second part will take place.

With this in mind, for their life to change, it will be essential for them to develop a better connection with their emotional needs. From here, they can go about fulfilling some of them themselves and some of them with the help of others.

A Closer Look

When it comes to their emotional needs, this will relate to their need for attention, intimacy, love, affection, support, appreciation and acceptance. What also stands out is that some of these will relate to their physical needs.

For example, being held or touched will take care of a physical need and it will take care of one or more emotional needs. If one spends a lot of time in their head, it is to be expected that most if not all of their physical needs will also be ignored.

Out of their Control

Taking into account how important both their emotional and physical needs are, it can seem strange as to why one would have the tendency to lose touch with these needs. What should be normal is for them to stay connected to their needs when they are in their own company and around others.

If they were to think about how long they have been this way, they may find that they have been this way for as long as they can remember. Due to this, they could believe that this is just how they are and were even born this way.