Stuffed Animals + Anxiety
Hi all,
I'm back in college for the new semester and I really miss my cat from home. Today I kinda impulse bought a stuffed cat because it was cute and the perfect size for me to hold because I don't have my real cat. All of my old stuffies are in storage now so I didn't have anything to cuddle. I do feel better now that I have it though.
Anyway, I wonder if part of the reason I felt like I needed a stuffed animal was because of my anxiety? When I was younger, I had a lot of stuffed animals and slept with them every night. I feel kinda dumb that I'm an adult and I still feel like I need something to hold and pet. I couldn't find much online about adults with anxiety and stuffies. Anyone else have some thoughts / similar experience?
@HelloItsMel
Hi!
I think what you're looking for is the link between stuffed animals and attachment.
When we are younger and dealing with issues (whether it's big or small) and we're feeling anxious (or emotional in anyway) we look for that attachment and security. Most of the time that's with our parents/caregivers, but it can also be with stuffed animals. Like how people have their 'security blanket'. It's that sense of safety, security and predictability (it will always be there).
As we get older we usually learn that we can find ways to regulate and soothe ourselves in other ways - like being able to talk about things, breathing exercises, stuff like that. The better that we get at soothing ourselves the more we start to let go of that need from immediate comfort of either finding our stuffed toys or grabbing onto our parents.
If for some reason we aren't always able to self-soothe or maybe our parents aren't always there to find that comfort, that's when people tend to hold onto stuffed animals and things longer.
There's nothing wrong with it and it certainly doesn't mean that you're dumb; it just means that maybe you aren't quite ready to let it go just yet.
Hope this answers your question!
@romanticthi3f that's a good connection I didn't think about! I am going through a kinda emotional time rn which just makes my anxiety act up (and I am no good at dealing with emotions). There's not many people where I live that I feel close with either. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense!
Thanks for the replies everyone! Wow I didn't know that others still like stuffed animals too. I'm a liiitle bit of a hoarder so I figured that's why I have all of mine still lol. Now I don't feel weird for having them :)