“chronic stress,” a set of challenging circumstances that persist over a long period of time. Second, estrangement disrupts biologically based patterns of attachment, causing anxiety and insecurity. Third, family rifts involve social rejection, which research shows is extraordinarily damaging. Fourth, estrangement violates a basic psychological need for certainty, instead creating a situation that is disturbingly ambiguous. Estrangement disrupts what are still the most reliable ties available in our society:
