What is Separation Anxiety Disorder? Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is defined as excessive worry and fear about being apart from family members or individuals to whom a child is most attached to. Children with separation anxiety disorder fear being lost from their family or fear that something bad is happening to a family member when they are separated from them. Children eventually grow out of the stage of being anxious when a parent leaves the room, by learning shortly after that the parent will eventually return. Some children however don’t grow out of this, In fact it is much more serious. It’s not just the sadness a child feels whenever they have to say goodbye. Although it can be difficult, separation anxiety is a normal stage of
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Unlike the occasional, detachment that children may feel at times of temporary separation, Separation Anxiety Disorder can dramatically affect a person's life by limiting their willingness to engage in daily normal activities. (Ehrenreich,2008) Children with the disorder become extremely distraught whenever they separate from their primary caregiver, whether that person is a parent, relative, nanny, or other guardian. Unlike children who are simply shy, children with separation anxiety disorder may become severely anxious and agitated even when they only anticipate being away from their home or primary caregiver. There are many warning signs that you should look out for those children who develop a Separation Anxiety Disorder, may have it continue into their adolescent or adult ages. A diagnosis of SAD is only given when the child’s distress during separation is inappropriate to his or her age range and development status level. (Ehrenreich,2008). Research suggests that 4.1% of children will reach a clinical level of separation anxiety, and that one-third of these childhood cases (36.1%) will in fact continue into adulthood if left …show more content…
Children with Separation Anxiety Disorder frequently have physical complaints, which also may need to be medically evaluated. A trained child psychiatrist, child psychologist or pediatric neurologist should evaluate information from home, school, and clinical visits to make a diagnosis. (Child Mind Insitute) For a child to meet the criteria for separation anxiety disorder, the child must have the symptoms for at least 4
Unlike the occasional, detachment that children may feel at times of temporary separation, Separation Anxiety Disorder can dramatically affect a person's life by limiting their willingness to engage in daily normal activities. (Ehrenreich,2008) Children with the disorder become extremely distraught whenever they separate from their primary caregiver, whether that person is a parent, relative, nanny, or other guardian. Unlike children who are simply shy, children with separation anxiety disorder may become severely anxious and agitated even when they only anticipate being away from their home or primary caregiver. There are many warning signs that you should look out for those children who develop a Separation Anxiety Disorder, may have it continue into their adolescent or adult ages. A diagnosis of SAD is only given when the child’s distress during separation is inappropriate to his or her age range and development status level. (Ehrenreich,2008). Research suggests that 4.1% of children will reach a clinical level of separation anxiety, and that one-third of these childhood cases (36.1%) will in fact continue into adulthood if left …show more content…
Children with Separation Anxiety Disorder frequently have physical complaints, which also may need to be medically evaluated. A trained child psychiatrist, child psychologist or pediatric neurologist should evaluate information from home, school, and clinical visits to make a diagnosis. (Child Mind Insitute) For a child to meet the criteria for separation anxiety disorder, the child must have the symptoms for at least 4