Do you carry your trusty water bottle around like it’s an extension of your body?
If so, it might be your emotional support water bottle.
According to psychotherapists, there’s a strange connection between attachment style and the water bottle you choose.
Julie Sweet, a licensed clinical counsellor from Sydney, believes the colour of the bottle determines your attachment style – secure, avoidant or anxious – and likens it to a ‘security blanket’.
She told FEMAIL: “Emotional support water bottles have become popular as a way to help individuals cope with their mental health and emotions.”
Attachment styles generally center around how we deal with conflict, anxiety, and loss in relationships and are the basis for how relationships develop.
Do you have a secure attachment style? (Getty Stock Image)
Sweet said that for people seeking peace of mind, water bottles are functional and durable, but those seeking relief tend to gravitate towards trendy or flashy items.
She explained: “Carrying a water bottle can provide a sense of security and stability for those suffering from stress, depression or anxiety. Water bottles represent an individual’s character and beliefs and highlight personal traits and passions.”
But why are water bottles used as emotional support items?
She said: “The Emotional Support Water Bottle provides a soothing feeling to anyone experiencing anxiety.”
“Anxiety can be traced back to an infant’s attachment to their primary caregiver. But as an adult, the feeling can shift away from a parent or other caregiver and towards a temporary object, like a water bottle.”
Water helps calm the central nervous system when you’re feeling anxious, and it’s also good for your health in general, so the feeling you get from staying hydrated is thought to be comforting.
Anxious attachment style? (Getty Stock Photo)
She added: “Australians have become so health conscious, so I think a water bottle is a must-have for everyone.”
Now that you’ve read this far, you might want to think about what your attachment style is and compare it to the water bottles in your cupboard.
Clinical psychologist Stan Tatkin coined the terminology to describe natural attachment styles: anchored (secure), wave (anxious), and island (avoidant).
“People in secure attachment relationships want a water bottle as an emotional support, a practical, functional object — it’s an extension of themselves,” Sweet said.
“They’re confident and down to earth. They’re not concerned with colour or a sense of style, they’re concerned with the durability of the bottle. Is it strong? Is it powerful? Does it deliver the results they need? If they care about colour, it’s probably black or white.
“People in secure attachment relationships want a water bottle as an emotional support, practical, functional object. It’s an extension of themselves.”
Or an avoidant attachment style? (Getty Stock Image)
But anxious people are different; they are drawn to sentimentality.
“It’s all about the design, the color and the sense of safety and security that the water bottle represents.”
She continued, “So they’re more concerned with the emotional value. And also, in terms of image, what’s trendy, what’s popular. They might care about what looks good, what makes them feel safe.”
Experts say that losing a bottle can be a terrible situation, like losing a part of yourself, but avoidant people prefer safety and functionality.
She said: “Avoidant people are similar to securely attached people in that they value functionality, but convenience is also important to them. They want things that are clean, easy and accessible.”
She said she likes pastel and soft earth tones.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Sex & Relationships, Lifestyle, Food & Drink
