Through the lens of attachment: experiences of trauma and psychosis

As psychosis has become understood to be a trauma-response, exploration of attachment amongst those who experience psychosis has expanded. To date, research has predominantly focused on those with longstanding psychotic experiences. Attachment in those deemed to be at-risk or who have experienced brief psychosis has remained under-researched. Studies have often been limited to investigating attachment styles (particularly the prevalence of insecure attachment) with little consideration for how attachment could be protective for those who are at-risk or have experienced fleeting psychosis. The present review aimed to address this and through a Critical Interpretive Synthesis explored how attachment can protect those who have an at-risk mental state (ARMS) or have experienced brief-limited-intermittent-psychotic-symptoms (BLIPS). The review developed three synthetic constructs; ‘secure attachment offers protection’, ‘resources of the self’, and ‘resources of others’. The review findings suggested that there are personal factors within an individual, associated with secure attachment, which help protect them against psychosis but also aspects within their relationships (relational factors) that also offer protection.