What is Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Does your child have a Separation Anxiety Disorder and can it be successfully treated? First of all it is necessary to understand exactly what a Separation Anxiety Disorder is so that it can be properly and fully understood prior to any action that you may wish to take. The anxiety level that develops in your child when you are away is a normal and natural occurrence. It exists, to some degree in all children who love and are loved by their parents.
An SAD, or Separation Anxiety Disorder occurs, however, when this natural anxiety has spiraled into a full-fledged condition of greater than normal anxiety and fear and becomes disabling and paralyzing to the child. A child with SAD may even experience the trauma when you are not gone, expecting that you may be gone soon. SAD is the most debilitating anxiety disorder that can be experienced by a child, other than a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and can lead to an actual panic attack.
The obvious question that arises is this: How can I determine if my child’s anxiety about my absence is normal or abnormal?
Children with SAD experience the same physical symptoms as adults with anxiety disorder, namely genuine fear and panic combined with rapid heart rate, perspiration and difficulty breathing, including an anxiety attack. They also consistently exhibit one or more of the following behavioral symptoms with increased complexity and regularity:
1. Increased problematic sleep patterns, including both a reluctance to go to sleep and complaints about nightmares; 2. Tendency toward fears of physical harm coming to you when you are away; 3. Genuine fear that because of some disastrous event during your absence that you may not return; 4. Worry that an unknown even may cause a separation or take you away permanently; 5. Fake illness that will cause you to remain with them; 6. Refusal to voluntarily separate themselves from you – like refusing to go away with friends or to school.
If your child has these symptoms then he/she may be in need of closer analysis by a physician or therapist. Your first course of action should be to contact your child’s primary physician and review your concerns and go from there.
What you can do to both prevent SAD and pre-treat milder levels of this disorder is to follow these guidelines and the common sense that goes with them.
Reassurance and loving attention to the child’s concerns is primary. Make sure that your child understands that worry is always much than the reality of future events. Begin to share your care-giving with relatives and friends, even when you are in town or at home.
