Hello Emma,
Overall result
Moderate separation anxietyYou show signs of moderate separation anxiety. Being apart from those you care about affects you more than average and can shape your decisions.
Your profile at a glance
Detailed analysis
This tendency is present in you — here is what it sheds light on.
Separations cause you noticeable discomfort, with moderate emotional or physical signs.
Your answers point to signs that are present but contained when it comes to separation distress. The moderate level typically reflects activation at certain moments, often tied to identifiable triggers (stressful situations, relational conflicts, periods of fatigue or isolation). At this stage, the dimension is not dominant in how you function, but it is worth keeping an eye on: the main risk with the moderate range is that it worsens through accumulation. In practice, tracking frequency rather than the intensity of any single episode gives a truer picture of how things are evolving — it is repetition, more than the occasional strong moment, that tips the moderate toward the marked. Keeping a regular marker (a brief journal, a conversation with someone you trust) can help you anticipate. Identifying two or three recurring triggers and preparing a simple response in advance — a pause, a phone call, an activity that soothes you — lowers the chance of the dimension settling in. If other dimensions shift in parallel, this one can become more prominent through a cumulative effect; and if these signs gain ground despite your efforts, talking to a professional early is in no way an overreaction — it is often at this stage that support is most effective and shortest.
Recommendations
- ✓Learn self-soothing techniques for moments of separation
- ✓Build transition rituals to make departures easier
- ✓Practise mindfulness to stay anchored in the present
This tendency is clear in you — here is what it reveals, to understand and move forward.
Fear of loss is ever-present and uses up a large share of your mental energy.
Your answers describe a marked trait on fear of loss. At this level, the dimension can sustain itself through self-reinforcing mechanisms (avoidance, narrowed attention, or rumination), whose exact form depends on the dimension involved. This trait tends to show up across several everyday contexts, not only in exceptional situations. Understanding the self-reinforcing mechanism is often the key: for instance, avoiding a situation brings short-term relief but tells the brain it was dangerous, which strengthens the avoidance next time. Spotting this kind of loop in your own daily life — without judging yourself — is already a lever for change, because you can only act on what you have first identified. It can interact with other elevated dimensions of the profile — for example by worsening a sense of overload or limiting the resources available to cope. It may help to talk it through with a professional (psychologist, physician) to explore in more detail what is at play and identify levers for action; structured approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapies work precisely on these chains, through small, concrete and realistic steps rather than willpower alone.
Recommendations
- ✓Consult a psychologist to work on these fears
- ✓The origin of this worry is often linked to past experiences
- ✓CBT is effective for reducing catastrophic thinking
This tendency is present in you — here is what it sheds light on.
You show a degree of emotional dependency that can limit your autonomy and your life choices.
Your answers describe a degree of emotional dependency that can limit your autonomy and your choices. Without judgment, the need for closeness and emotional security is healthy; what deserves attention is the moment when the fear of separation starts to drive decisions (turning down an opportunity, staying constantly available, putting up with the unbearable so as not to lose the bond). One way of reading it — to weigh against your own experience — is that this dependency often draws on a deep-seated dread that another person's distance will be felt as a threat to your own stability. The moderate score suggests a tendency, not a total grip: your autonomy remains within reach. The most fruitful lever is to gradually cultivate spaces of reassuring autonomy — activities, decisions, moments of your own that prove through experience that distance does not equal loss — so that bonds are lived by choice rather than out of fear of lacking.
Recommendations
- ✓Develop independent personal activities
- ✓Learn to enjoy moments of solitude
- ✓Strengthen your identity outside of your relationships
Profile synthesis
Your profile shows moderate signs. Some dimensions deserve attention without being alarming: they describe real but contained difficulties that are not yet at the centre of how you function. The moderate level is precisely where observation is most useful, because it can shift in either direction depending on what happens in your life. Identifying the contexts and moments where these dimensions intensify — fatigue, conflict, overload, isolation — gives you concrete levers to act early. Talking it through with someone you trust or a professional, even without urgency, can help clarify what is at play and prevent worsening through accumulation.
Your action plan
Right now
- →Fear of loss — Consult a psychologist to work on these fears
- →Fear of loss — The origin of this worry is often linked to past experiences
In the coming weeks
- →Separation distress — Learn self-soothing techniques for moments of separation
- →Emotional dependency — Develop independent personal activities
In the long run
- →Retake this test in 3 to 6 months to measure how you've evolved. Meaningful changes on the elevated dimensions are often visible over this timescale.
- →If you begin therapeutic work, identify together 1 or 2 priority dimensions rather than tackling everything at once — targeted work is more effective than working on it all.
- →Build a lasting support network: a health professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, GP), people around you, and possibly a support group. Strength comes from numbers and from complementarity.
- →Take care of the physiological basics (sleep, nutrition, physical activity): they don't cure, but they strongly shape your psychological availability for therapeutic work.
Avenues to explore
These are hypotheses, not conclusions. You are the one who knows whether they resonate.
It may be that you experience a particular preoccupation about losing or being abandoned by an important person, without feeling immediate distress during concrete separations. This high fear of loss (60%) suggests that it is more the **idea** of a permanent separation that preoccupies you than everyday partings.
Check for yourself: Observe over a week: do you ruminate on catastrophic scenarios ("what if they left me?", "what if something happened to them?") even when the person is right beside you? Or is it the physical separation itself that bothers you? Note the difference to clarify.
One possible explanation is that you have developed **relational hypervigilance**: a tendency to monitor signs of emotional distance or rejection, even subtle ones. In some people, this profile comes with an anxious reading of others' behaviour ("why did they reply more slowly?") — is that your case?
Check for yourself: For 3-4 days, note each time you ask yourself an anxious question about someone's commitment or interest in you. Try to separate the objective facts from the anxious interpretations you draw from them.
It may be that your moderate emotional dependency (40%) reflects a **fragile confidence in your ability to handle difficult situations or emotions on your own**. The high fear of loss could then mask an underlying worry: "How will I cope without this person?"
Check for yourself: Reflect: when you worry about losing someone, is it mostly the relationship itself that you'd miss, or rather the **supportive or regulating role** that person plays? Are there areas where you feel autonomous and competent?
Another avenue: the contrast between your moderate distress during separation (40%) and your high fear of loss (60%) could indicate that you tolerate **short, predictable absences** better than **uncertainty about the strength of the bond**. You can bear a separation if you feel reassured that the bond will last.
Check for yourself: Compare two situations: (1) a planned separation from someone close (a weekend) vs (2) a vague relational unease or a drop in contact with no clear explanation. Which one makes you more anxious, and for longer?
14 clinical reading frameworks are applied to your profile below — the exact number announced for this test.
Reading frameworks
Recognised clinical frameworks applied to your profile, as additional perspectives to weigh.
Attachment style — anxious
The profile reveals a high fear of loss (60%) combined with moderate separation distress, evoking an anxious attachment style in which fear of abandonment and the need for emotional closeness dominate. This configuration suggests a hyperactivation of the attachment system in the face of perceived distance, without indicating major disorganisation.
Nervous system state — sympathetic (mobilisation)
Moderate-to-high separation anxiety suggests chronic sympathetic activation (vigilance, tension) in response to cues of distance or loss, without tipping into a dorsal shutdown (freeze). The system stays mobilised, waiting for emotional reconnection.
Cognitive pattern — Catastrophising
The high fear of loss (60%) may reflect a tendency to anticipate the worst-case scenarios (permanent loss, imminent abandonment) without objective evidence, typical of an anxious spiral fed by catastrophic thinking.
Cognitive pattern — Mind reading
Moderate separation anxiety may come with a negative reading of others' intentions during absences ("they're forgetting me", "they'd rather stay away"), although this test does not measure it directly.
Early schema — Abandonment
The high fear of loss and moderate emotional dependency point to an early abandonment schema: an expectation that those close will disappear or won't stay emotionally available, fuelling hypervigilance and a need for reassurance.
Attachment — Sources: John Bowlby (1969) ; Mary Ainsworth et al. (1978) ; Kim Bartholomew, Leonard Horowitz (1991)
Cognitive distortions — Sources: Aaron Beck (1976) ; David Burns (1980)
Young's schemas — Sources: Jeffrey Young (1990) ; Jeffrey Young, Janet Klosko, Marjorie Weishaar (2003)
Polyvagal theory — Sources: Stephen Porges (2011) ; Stephen Porges (1995) — proposed/debated theory
Additional clinical frameworks
Recognised models for this domain, applied to your profile as hypotheses to weigh — not a diagnosis.
Models of anxiety and stress
Intolerance of uncertainty (Dugas)
Your high score on fear of loss (60%) suggests a difficulty tolerating uncertainty about the stability of emotional bonds. This profile sometimes evokes a tendency toward negative anticipation: you may project yourself into scenarios of separation or loss, feeding a chronic worry. Do you notice rumination around "what if I lost this person?" or persistent doubts about how lasting your bonds are?
Sources: Michel Dugas, Fabien Gagnon, Robert Ladouceur, Mark Freeston (1998)
Social anxiety (Clark & Wells)
The moderate emotional dependency (40%) and the fear of loss could be reinforced by attention turned toward cues of abandonment or distance in the other person. This profile sometimes suggests heightened vigilance to others' reactions, reading small silences or absences as threats. Do you sometimes find yourself frequently checking the availability or interest of those close to you, or reading a delayed reply as a sign of rejection?
Sources: David M. Clark, Adrian Wells (1995)
Appraisal and coping (Lazarus & Folkman)
Faced with separation or absence, your cognitive appraisal of the threat seems significant (fear of loss at 60%), while the internal resources to manage this uncertainty may be perceived as limited. You may develop emotion-focused strategies (seeking reassurance, frequent contact) rather than actively solving the problem. What strategies do you use to reassure yourself during a separation or an absence?
Sources: Richard Lazarus, Susan Folkman (1984)
Tripartite model (Clark & Watson)
This profile of moderate separation anxiety may come with a negative affect directed at relationships (worry, tension during separations) while preserving other areas of satisfaction. You may feel mainly an emotional hyperactivation during breaks or absences, without necessarily showing a global anhedonia. Do you notice whether this fear of loss affects your ability to enjoy other activities in the person's absence?
Sources: Lee Anna Clark, David Watson (1991)
Cross-cutting frameworks
Window of tolerance (Siegel)
Your profile of moderate-to-high separation anxiety (particularly the fear of loss at 60%) suggests a window of tolerance that can narrow during relational ruptures or the anticipation of loss. You may swing between hyperactivation (heightened vigilance to signs of abandonment) and moments of withdrawal or emotional freezing. Have you noticed this alternation between exhausting vigilance and periods where you "shut down" in the face of the risk of loss?
Emotion regulation (Gross)
The high fear of loss (60%) often evokes a tendency toward anticipatory rumination rather than a cognitive reappraisal of the real risk. You may rely more on expressive suppression (holding back feelings of fear) or rumination (dwelling on separation scenarios) than on a reappraisal that would temper the perceived threat. Do you notice whether your attempts at regulation reinforce the anxiety instead of easing it?
Negative cognitive triad (Beck)
Your high score on fear of loss (60%) may reflect a negative automatic thought centred on the future: "I'm going to lose this person", "I won't be able to bear this separation", "Others will leave me". These thoughts shape your view of your relationships and perhaps also a self-esteem conditioned on the other's presence. Do these catastrophic thoughts come back regularly and reinforce your vigilance?
Defence mechanisms (Vaillant)
This profile of separation anxiety suggests a possible reliance on immature or neurotic defences, such as projection (fearing the other will reject us) or intellectualisation (overthinking the risk of loss without resolving it). You may also use hypervigilance as a defence against the unpredictability of separation. Do you recognise these patterns when the anxiety rises?
Hierarchy of needs (Maslow)
The moderate separation anxiety and the moderate emotional dependency (40%) evoke a very high priority placed on the needs for belonging and emotional security, potentially at the expense of autonomous self-esteem or personal fulfilment. You may give the relationship such a central place in feeling safe that the threat of separation destabilises your overall balance. Do you feel this emotional dependency weighing on your well-being?
These frameworks do not constitute a medical diagnosis.
Resources & exercise
7-day observation journal
Each day, spot one situation where “Fear of loss” showed up. Note the automatic thought, the emotion (0–100) and what you did. Then write one more balanced, alternative reading. After 7 days, re-read your notes: the recurring patterns become visible — the first step to change them.
Support resources
If you are struggling, you are not alone. United States: call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7). Elsewhere: find your local line at findahelpline.com. This report supports self-knowledge and does not replace a consultation with a psychologist or doctor.
Your answers in detail
1. I feel intense distress when I'm apart from my partner or someone close to me.
Answer : Rarely
You answered "Rarely". Can you tell me a little more about when this comes up?
It mostly comes out in situations that matter to me, when I feel under pressure or emotionally involved.
2. I feel lost and helpless when those close to me aren't there.
Answer : Rarely
And how long have you noticed this?
It's been more present for a few months, though I recognise it from before as well.
3. I get physical symptoms (nausea, stomach aches) when I have to part from someone.
Answer : Rarely
4. Departures, even temporary ones, plunge me into deep sadness.
Answer : Rarely
5. I can't concentrate or function normally when someone close to me is far away.
Answer : Rarely
6. I cry or feel on the verge of tears when I'm apart from those close to me.
Answer : Rarely
7. …
The next questions (7, 8…) continue in your test. This sample only shows the beginning — the full test has 60 questions, and every answer refines your report.
What now?
You've just seen what your answers reveal. Your Full Assessment goes further: a personalized, step-by-step path to turn this understanding into concrete change — at your own pace.
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