Meredith’s Childhood Attachment Analyasis: September 27, 12

Parents are the people most babies come to know first. In the early months they are establishing the initial trust that will continue on for the rest of their lives.  If one were to go off of Erik Erikson’s theory, the first18 months are vital in creating a foundation for the building block’s of the rest of the child’s life. While watching Grey’s Anatomy the other day, I started thinking about what was Meredith Grey’s childhood like? Did she get the love and attention she needed in order to create a trust that would last the rest of her life?

At a young age Meredith’s father just left. Poof! He was out of her life, creating an estranged relationship that would last for years to come. So that solely left her mother, a woman who consistently placed a higher value on her job rather than that of her child. I imagine that Meredith was never able to get the time needed to establish that fundamental trust.

While watching the show it is obvious that Meredith struggles with trust in all of her relationships.  Her smart, strong, and independent character can not entirely disguise the pain and fright in her life. In class we talked about avoidant, secure, and ambivalent babies. Learning this caused me ponder how Meredith would score in the Strange Situation research procedure. I was in quite the toss up between avoidant and ambivalent. Both avoidant and ambivalent babies are caused because parent’s are unavailable, inconsistent or unpredictable. I believe that Meredith created her own coping mechanism and immobilized her attachment system. Her mother wasn’t there for her, and therefore Meredith excludes any thoughts or feelings that may activate the system. Time and time again, Meredith’s mother verabally abused and blamed her. She neglected the basic emotional needs of her daughter. Something clicked early on for Meredith, and she turned her emotions off so she would not feel unloved. She created her own her wall of self destructive protection, continuously holding on to the blame towards her mother.

Posted by Emily

"You're not crazy, Lexie. You're a Grey." (7x04, Can't Fight Biology)

Meredith and Lexie Grey are half-sisters, both born to father Thatcher Grey.  Meredith was born to and raised mainly by her mother Ellis Grey after her father left them while Meredith was only five years old.  She lived her life working hard to achieve her goal of becoming a surgeon just like her mother.  This was mainly fueled by Ellis' Alzheimer's diagnosis and claims that Meredith wouldn't make it through.  Lexie was raised by father thatcher Grey and his second wife, her mother, Susan Grey.  She had a fairly normal childhood, excelling in her studies and even skipping a grade in elementary school.  Her photographic memory also helped her greatly throughout medical school.

Although raised apart, both sisters end up working at Seattle Grace hospital and after an extended period of time become close and build a better relationship.  As they work side by side it is revealed that they have different personalities, but there are many parallels between their lives. For example, both show signs of abandonment issues - Meredith, because of her constant fighting with Derek Shepard early on, her father leaving the family, and the fact that her mother spent more time in the hospital (both because of her work and her affair) than at home; and Lexie, because of her constant fighting and on-and-off relationships with Mark Sloan and Jackson Avery.

It is quite obvious that many of their behavioral influences are the same.  Because they share the same father it can be deduced that about half, if not more, of their Biological influences are the same.  Because they both live and work together it can also be concluded that their Social-Cultural influences are very much the same.  And finally, due to the fact that they have similar personalities and displays of emotions, it can be assumed that their Psychological influences are also alike.