Separation anxiety disorder (separation anxiety disorder) is excessive fear and anxiety resulting from separation from home or the first attachment figure. Anxiety must be inappropriate for the child’s age and developmental level and must last for at least 4 weeks. It is important to distinguish abnormal separation anxiety from the age-appropriate phenomenon observed between 7 months and 6 years of age. Separation anxiety disorder is seen between 2.4% and 5.4%.
Children with separation anxiety disorder feel distressed when they have a separation situation or expectation of separation, they want to avoid separation situations. The distress they experience can take the form of “terror” or autonomic arousal. Children with separation anxiety disorder resist separation by clinging, crying, begging, or making somatic complaints. The underlying fear is that the attachment figure or himself will be harmed, and in this way he will experience constant separation. School refusal and intense somatic complaints are the most common reasons for seeking treatment.
Separation anxiety disorder is most commonly found in pre-adolescent children, but can be diagnosed at any age before age 18. As noted earlier, the functional impairment associated with distress or separation should be extreme relative to the developmental level.
Treatment;
Separation anxiety disorder is treated by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Individual, family, and group therapy may be helpful in the treatment of separation anxiety disorder. It is important that parents be encouraged to understand the child’s needs and desire for independent behavior. It is also important for each parent to address their own themes of separation. Medication has been used successfully in separation anxiety disorder.
