SEPARATION ANXIETY

Separation anxiety is normal among infants and toddlers.  In fact anxiety in childhood is adaptive – if a child is in danger, remaining close to caregivers is protective.  However, fears are no longer normal when they are excessive or present at times that are developmentally inappropriate.

What is Separation Anxiety?

Separation anxiety is excessive and developmentally inappropriate anxiety about separating from caregivers or from the home.  Children with separation anxiety experience distress when separations occur and often worry about possible harm coming to loved ones.  They may:

• Refuse to go to school or elsewhere
• Complain about physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches and nausea.
• Have difficulty falling asleep on their own at night.
• Have nightmares involving themes of separation.

Facts about Separation Anxiety Disorder

• Separation anxiety disorder is more common in girls than boys.
• Children are at higher risk of developing separation anxiety if they have anxious temperaments, if they have family members with anxiety disorders and if they have experienced separation anxiety or other difficulties with anxiety in the past.
• Separation anxiety is episodic.  In other words it occurs in episodes of differing lengths of time.
• It usually has an identifiable trigger (such as beginning school or changing schools, being separated from parents, experiencing the death or illness of a family member or acquaintance, and returning to school after holidays or illness).

Treatment for Separation Anxiety

Treatment for separation anxiety involves:-

• Educating parents – often they will unknowingly engage in behaviours that reinforce the anxiety, such as allowing children to avoid or escape, or providing excessive reassurance.
• Teaching cognitive behavioural coping skills to assist the child to deal more effectively with separation experiences.
• Setting up a hierarchy where fears are confronted in a systematic way.
• Creating a reward system to help reinforce the child’s efforts.
• Providing parents with strategies to reduce the chance of relapse.