What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?

Take our Your Mental Health Today Test

Find a therapist near me

Early family rejection can disrupt a child’s sense of safety and attachment.

In the absence of parental comfort and belonging, many look for other sources of support.

Substitute sources of comfort can help repair the effects of early rejection on attachment and safety.

Punch: The Abandoned Baby Macaque

From the moment he was born at Ichikawa City Zoo, Punch, a baby Japanese macaque, was rejected by the one being evolution designed to protect him: his mother. For reasons not fully understood, she refused to nurse or hold him. The tiny infant reached for her, clung to her fur, and desperately sought contact, but his mother showed no signs of bonding. Whether due to stress, inexperience, or instinct, she pushed him away. In the wild, this would have been a death sentence.

Instead, zookeepers intervened. They provided bottle feedings and round-the-clock care to keep him alive, stepping in to take the place of his mother.

These types of things likely happen more often than we know. But, for some reason, this baby monkey captured the hearts of visitors, who followed Punch’s progress. Social media updates........

© Psychology Today