Basic Anxiety
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Basic Anxiety is a term used by the psychologist Karen Horney to explain the ramifications of poor parenting. Basic anxiety is deep insecurity and fear that have developed in the child because of the way they were treated by their parents. It is developed because of the conflict with dependency and hostility towards mom, dad, or both.
Horney argued that a child is tied to his or her parent because of dependence, not sex (as Sigmund Freud would argue). The child is dependent on the mother and father for food, shelter, and the basic needs. However, the child realizes that no matter how terrible mother and father treat him or her, he or she has nowhere to go because they are so dependent on the parents.
Anxiety generalizes and everyone becomes a potential threat. What initiated as anxiety towards the parents becomes anxiety towards everyone. “If mom and dad can treat me so bad, and they are my parents, how much worse is everyone else?”
The world is seen as hostile and unreliable. Everyone is perceived as a threat and it is just safer to avoid everyone because everyone causes anxiety.
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