SEPARATION the second volume of ATTACHMENT & LOSS continues John Bowlbys influential work on the importance of the parental relationship to mental health. Here he considers separation & the anxiety that accompanies it: the fear of imminent or anticipated separation the fear induced by parental threats of separation & the inversion of the parent-child relationship. Dr Bowlby re-examines the situations that cause us to feel fear & compares them with evidence from animals. He concludes that fear is initially aroused by certain elemental situations
- sudden movement darkness or separation
- which although intrinsically harmless are indicative of an increased risk of danger.