Separation Anxiety Disorder

When you first leave your child with someone new such as a new babysitter or relative, your child may experience separation anxiety.  This is quite normal for children from eight to fourteen months old.  This is the phase wherein they become very clingy to their parents and experience fear of encounters with unfamiliar places and people.  When this anxiety occurs in a child that is aged six years and above, lasts for four consecutive weeks or longer, then the child may have separation anxiety disorder.

 Separation Anxiety Disorder or SAD is a condition that occurs in a child who exhibits fear or anxiety when being away or separated from a loved one or a place.  Some children may even develop some physical symptoms, like stomachaches or headaches, when they feel the anxiety of being separated builds up.  A child suffering from separation anxiety disorder may usually draw back from doing normal school activities like playing with other children or attending school.

 Below are some symptoms or warning signs that a child may be suffering from separation anxiety disorder:

•  Unreasonable fear that something bad might happen to the child, the parent or the caregiver if any is separated from each other.
•  Refusal to attend school so that he or she can stay with his parent or babysitter
•  Refusal to go to bed and sleep without the knowledge that his parent is nearby
•  Refusal to sleep in other places other than home
•  Fear of being left alone
•  Complaining of experiencing headaches or stomachaches when in school
•  Throwing temperamental tantrums 
•  Pleading not to go to school or staying with the parents
•  Having nightmares of being separated or left alone
  

here are several causes that may lead to a child having separation anxiety disorder.  The following are:

• Traumatic event or significant stress that occurred in the child’s life – e.g. death of a loved one, change of environment
• Genetics or heredity – children of parents with anxiety disorders are prone to develop these disorders as well.
• Over protective parental approaches
  

Studies show that about four to five percent of children in the US from the ages of seven to eleven years are affected by separation anxiety.  In teenagers, 1.3% are affected.

Separation anxiety disorder can be treated like other mental illnesses, by seeing a child psychiatrist or any mental health professional.  This is done through a thorough psychiatric evaluation.  These mental health professionals usually have designed assessment tools that will help evaluate the child suffering from the disorder.

There are several ways to treat a child’s separation anxiety disorder.  Some of which are the following:

• Psychotherapy -  Psychotherapy is usually the main treatment sought for separation anxiety disorder.  This is done to reshape the child’s way of thinking so that it will influence his behavior.
  
• Medication -  Some psychotherapists recommend antidepressant medications in extreme cases of separation anxiety disorder.
  

Through these treatments, the child will begin to develop a stronger sense of security in himself and with his new caregiver or sitter.  Recognizing the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder in the early stages will definitely help in overcoming this disorder more easily for the child and for the parent.

More information about Anxiety Treatment | Back to Separation Anxiety Disorder.