Six signs of emotional immaturity

Emotional immaturity, psychological immaturity, and infantilism are essentially names for the same phenomenon, which can easily be identified by the following signs.

So, the signs of emotional immaturity are.

1. The inability to make decisions independently

An emotionally immature person doesn’t make decisions for themselves; they pass them on to other people: parents, friends, partners, or their own children. The word “responsibility” scares him so much that he rejects it in every possible way. By the way, others are mostly to blame for his or her failures as well: circumstances, people, family, etc.

2. Lack of separation from parents.

Normally an adult is separated from his or her parents, and an emotionally immature person is often in a close emotional bond with his or her mother and/or father. Parents can control his behavior, dictate his rules, and the boundaries (where they end and he begins) are erased. The emotionally immature person often lives together with his parents, despite his solid age. He or she is accountable, advised and often feels guilty if he or she commits an act not approved by them.

3. Inability to draw conclusions and change his behavior

The emotionally immature person steps on the same rake from time to time, but doesn’t change one bit. He or she is guilty of bad reporting and received a reprimand from the manager (did not appreciate it), the colleagues are guilty (did not help) — but not him / her, and it means the same thing will happen next time.

4. Avoiding problems

The mature person meets difficulties face to face and tries to correct the situation. An emotionally immature person escapes into all sorts of addictions (alcohol, drugs, gambling) or runs away for real: hiding from the scene of an accident, not getting in touch when he has hurt someone, disappearing from the radar when a partner has difficulties or a serious conversation looms. “Looking for yourself” in Goa, Bali, Tibet is also a frequent story. Just to avoid facing the realities of life.

5. Unreasonable demands and expectations

Everyone should understand him (and if they don’t — they’re bad). Everyone should adjust to him (and if they don’t, they’re bad to him). Everyone must be what the ELF wants them to be. The emotionally immature person himself most often feels and presents himself as a victim, because others could be kinder, more considerate and generally…

6. Not owning one’s feelings and emotions

As a rule, the emotionally immature person has a hard time navigating his or her emotional world. Accordingly, he does not “feel” other people either, which means that his psychological boundaries are often violated. He has great difficulties both with understanding his own feelings and with empathy. His emotions can spill out in an uncontrollable stream or lie as a heavy burden inside, not being processed in any way.

Emotional immaturity is a great misfortune for an adult and is, of course, laid as early as childhood. This is best dealt with in therapy, where one has to gradually learn to take responsibility for one’s own life.