Developmentally
inappropriate and excessive anxiety concerning separation from
home or from those to whom the individual is attached, as evidenced
by three (or more) of the following
 Recurrent excessive
distress when separation from home or major attachment figures
occurs or is anticipated.
Persistent and excessive
worry about losing, or possible harm befalling, major attachment
figures.
Persistent and excessive
worry that an unexpected event will lead to separation from a
major attachment figure (e.g. getting lost or being kidnapped).
Persistent reluctance
or refusal to go to school or elsewhere because of fear of separation.
Persistently and
excessively fearful or reluctant to be alone or without major
attachment figures at home or without significant adults in other
settings.
Persistent reluctance
or refusal to go to sleep without being near a major attachment
figure or to sleep away from home.
Repeated nightmares
involving the theme of separation.
Repeated complaints
of physical symptoms, headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or vomiting,
when separated from major attachment figures occurs, or is anticipated.
The duration of the disturbance is at least 4 weeks.
The disturbance
causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
academic (occupational), or other important areas of functioning.
The disturbance
does not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental
Disorder, Schizophrenia,
or other Psychotic Disorder and, in adolescents and adults, is
not better accounted for by Panic
Disorder With Agoraphobia.
Associated
Features:
Depressed
Mood
Somatic
or Sexual Dysfunction
Anxious or Fearful or Dependent
Personality
Differential
Diagnosis:
Some disorders
have similar or even the same symptom. The clinician, therefore,
in his diagnostic attempt, has to differentiate against the following
disorders which he needs to rule out to establish a precise diagnosis.
Pervasive
Developmental Disorders;
Schizophrenia, or
other Psychotic Disorders;
Generalized Anxiety
Disorder;
Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia;
Agoraphobia Without History
of Panic Disorder;
Conduct Disorder;
Developmentally appropriate levels of separation anxiety.
Cause:
As infants
develop and become more aware and interactive with their environment,
they experience various emotions. Trust, safety, and comfort depend
on familiarity and consistency. From 8 to 14 months, many children
experience fear when they are denied familiar and safe situations.
They recognize their parents as familiar and safe and when separated
from parents, they may feel threatened and unsafe. Separation
anxiety is a normal development stage that usually decreases around
2 years old when toddlers begin to understand that parents may
be out of sight but will return.
Even after
children have successfully mastered this developmental stage,
separation anxiety may return during periods of stress . Most
children will experience some degree of separation anxiety when
in unfamiliar situations such as a stay in hospital, when experiencing
stress's. It is therefore natural for them to seek the safety,
comfort, and protection of their parents. When parents cannot
be with their children in these situations, the child experiences
distress.
Treatment:
It is helpful
for a parent to be with children during stressful occasions such
as during medical examinations or treatments. When a parent cannot
accompany the child, prior experience or exposure to the situation
is helpful. If this is not possible, the child may display severe
anxiety by crying, resisting, begging, screaming. It is always
desirable to explain the situation and experience to the child
and to assure them.
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None
Anxiety
Disorder's
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