What is Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Separation Anxiety Disorder is an anxiety disorder that involves excessive anxiety or worry about something "bad" happening either 1) to a person he/she has strong emotional attachment to (e.g. a parent/caregiver, grandparents, child/adolescent, or siblings) or 2) to this person during (or anticipated) separation from home. Although this disorder is most commonly diagnosed in children, this disorder is being increasingly recognized in adults as well.
What Separation Anxiety Looks Like
Children and Adolescents: Younger children may cry, become clingy, develop temper tantrums, or have difficulty falling asleep alone. Children might also refuse to be in a room by themselves, stay at school or participate in activities unless a trusted person stays with them, refuse to go to camp, or be at home with a babysitter when the parents are out. They may also complain of physical symptoms (e.g., nausea, headaches) prior to, or when, the separation occurs. For older children, they may not be able to go for sleepovers or go on a school trip unless a parent comes along. For older teens and young adults, they may have difficulty using public transportation alone or go off to college.
Adults: Adults suffering from separation anxiety disorder may experience discomfort when separated from their loved ones (i.e., staying in a hotel room alone; child moves away to college) and may exhibit more cardiovascular symptoms (i.e., heart palpitations, feeling faint, dizziness) than children with this disorder.
All Ages: Individuals of all ages with separation anxiety disorder may experience dreams portraying the fear behind the separation (i.e., separation or death of loved ones, or other catastrophic event that impacts/injures family).
Safety/Unhealthy Coping/Avoidance Behaviors
Individuals with separation anxiety disorder often avoid going out alone, avoid going to school, do not go away to college, work a home-based job, and/or don’t leave the parents’/family home. These individuals may call loved ones when they are separated from them, seek reassurance from others around to ensure that their loved ones are safe, and/or attempt to ensure the safety of their loved ones if they do leave them. Trusted people (i.e., parents, spouses, caregivers) often unknowingly act as safety signals by reducing the individual’s anxiety in anxiety-producing situations simply by being present.
How We Can Help
Our therapists will use cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to help the individual learn distress tolerance skills and effective self-talk. For children with separation anxiety, our therapists will guide parents to effectively implement an incentive plan and decrease accommodating behaviors in order to motivate their child to use their coping skills to manage their anxiety and fear. Finally, exposure therapy and other interventions are used to help the anxious individual learn to be independent and alone (age appropriately) at various settings (e.g., school, going to bed, being away from home) by reframing his/her beliefs about the need for control, being abandoned, or that something "bad" may happen. This may involve teaching the individual to overcome fears of panic attacks via interoceptive exposures.
Separation Anxiety Disorder is an anxiety disorder that involves excessive anxiety or worry about something "bad" happening either 1) to a person he/she has strong emotional attachment to (e.g. a parent/caregiver, grandparents, child/adolescent, or siblings) or 2) to this person during (or anticipated) separation from home. Although this disorder is most commonly diagnosed in children, this disorder is being increasingly recognized in adults as well.
What Separation Anxiety Looks Like
Children and Adolescents: Younger children may cry, become clingy, develop temper tantrums, or have difficulty falling asleep alone. Children might also refuse to be in a room by themselves, stay at school or participate in activities unless a trusted person stays with them, refuse to go to camp, or be at home with a babysitter when the parents are out. They may also complain of physical symptoms (e.g., nausea, headaches) prior to, or when, the separation occurs. For older children, they may not be able to go for sleepovers or go on a school trip unless a parent comes along. For older teens and young adults, they may have difficulty using public transportation alone or go off to college.
Adults: Adults suffering from separation anxiety disorder may experience discomfort when separated from their loved ones (i.e., staying in a hotel room alone; child moves away to college) and may exhibit more cardiovascular symptoms (i.e., heart palpitations, feeling faint, dizziness) than children with this disorder.
All Ages: Individuals of all ages with separation anxiety disorder may experience dreams portraying the fear behind the separation (i.e., separation or death of loved ones, or other catastrophic event that impacts/injures family).
Safety/Unhealthy Coping/Avoidance Behaviors
Individuals with separation anxiety disorder often avoid going out alone, avoid going to school, do not go away to college, work a home-based job, and/or don’t leave the parents’/family home. These individuals may call loved ones when they are separated from them, seek reassurance from others around to ensure that their loved ones are safe, and/or attempt to ensure the safety of their loved ones if they do leave them. Trusted people (i.e., parents, spouses, caregivers) often unknowingly act as safety signals by reducing the individual’s anxiety in anxiety-producing situations simply by being present.
How We Can Help
Our therapists will use cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to help the individual learn distress tolerance skills and effective self-talk. For children with separation anxiety, our therapists will guide parents to effectively implement an incentive plan and decrease accommodating behaviors in order to motivate their child to use their coping skills to manage their anxiety and fear. Finally, exposure therapy and other interventions are used to help the anxious individual learn to be independent and alone (age appropriately) at various settings (e.g., school, going to bed, being away from home) by reframing his/her beliefs about the need for control, being abandoned, or that something "bad" may happen. This may involve teaching the individual to overcome fears of panic attacks via interoceptive exposures.
P H O N E 219.228.7630 | Call us for a FREE CONSULT
F A X 219.228.1083
E M A I L info@anxietybehavioralhealth.com
A D D R E S S 900 Ridge Road, Suite F, Munster, Indiana 46321
F A X 219.228.1083
E M A I L info@anxietybehavioralhealth.com
A D D R E S S 900 Ridge Road, Suite F, Munster, Indiana 46321