About half a century ago Bowlby (1973) wrote about separation anxiety (anxiety caused by separation from a loved and missed person) and noticed that children sooner or later get into trouble in their mother’s absence, reacting to all the strange and unexpected things. Following the view of William James (1980) that “the greatest source of terror in infancy is loneliness” (Bowlby, idem, 30) he offered several attempts to explain separation anxiety: “distress and anxiety are not reducible to other terms and are merely primary reactions by nature of the child’s attachment to his mother. ” theory, Freud’s theory of transformed libido (1905), Rank’s birth-trauma theory (1924), Freud’s signal theory (1926), Klein’s theory of persecution anxiety (1934), Klein’s theory of depressive anxiety ( 1935), and Suttie (1935), Hermann (1936), Fairbairn (1943, 1963), and Winnicott (1952). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III (DSM-III) (1980) introduced the so-called childhood and adolescence anxiety disorders with three specific anxiety disorders: separation anxiety disorder, extreme anxiety disorder, and avoidance disorder (Weems & Silverman, 2013). ). , 513). While the DSM-IV left the last two subcategories, the DSM-V included the following anxiety disorders: Will be time-consuming, distressing, and highly intrusive, including recurring thoughts about pollution, repeated doubts, having things in a particular order, and aggressive or terrifying urges repetitive thoughts or behavior patterns as severe as possible), panic disorder (sudden and severe anxiety attacks), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (which typically includes sleep disturbance and persistent vivid recollection of the experience, occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock) It is characterized by persistent mental and emotional stress brought on by dull reactions to others and the outside world) (idem, 515). Weems & Silverman (idem, ibidem) also pointed out that anxiety disorders show a high rate of comorbidity with each other.
Elliott and Smith (2010, 280-281) distinguish six types of anxiety problems: fear of separation from mother, father, or caregiver (6-24 months); fear of foreign adults (6-10 months); fear of unfamiliar peers (2-3 years); fear of animals, the dark and imaginary creatures (2-6 years old); school phobia (3-6 years, 10-11 years); and fear of being evaluated by others (13-19 years). He claims that the fear of being evaluated by others almost defines adolescence and that most young people are quite worried about what others think of them (Elliott et al, 2010). Although anxiety disorders should gradually decrease as adolescence progresses, it is not uncommon for them to persist into late adolescence. It has also been noted that several adult-onset anxiety disorders occur infrequently in children: agoraphobia (“extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, leaving one’s own home, or being at home. places from which it is difficult to escape”, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder). , but only panic disorder occurs in late adolescence or later (Elliott et al, 2010).
Specialist clinical psychologist Hülya İlhan
EABCT Therapist, Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, EMDR Level 2 Therapist
