Separation Anxiety Disorder Case Study

Maria and Juan report that their daughter Isabel has been refusing to go to school since her younger brother was born six months ago. Sometimes they are able to coax Isabel to go to school but many times she stays home for the entire day. Every school morning starts with Isabel refusing to get dressed and Maria and Juan have been unable to overcome her refusal to get dressed. If they try to dress her themselves, she squirms, cries, screams and runs out of the room. Isabel will only go to school if she is wearing pajamas or a princess costume. Her behavior has put a strain on Maria and Juan’s marriage. They argue frequently about how to handle Isabel. Maria prefers her daughter wear regular clothes, but will let her wear what she wants if it means she …show more content…
In order for a child to be diagnosed with SAD they must have at least three of the symptoms listed in the DSM-5 for at least four weeks, and Isabel has been displaying them for six months. Isabel shows a persistent refusal to leave the house and go to school. She shows extreme distress when her parents try to get her ready in the morning for school since she does not want to leave the house at all. Lastly, Isabel expresses desire to stay at home with her mother and baby brother instead of going to school (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p.191). Since Isabel does not explicitly show symptoms of Separation Anxiety Disorder, it was rather difficult to diagnose her but Isabel’s symptoms do not really fit any other diagnosis. A refusal to leave the home could fall under the Autism Spectrum, but Isabel shows no other symptoms that would lead one to believe she has Autism Spectrum Disorder. A treatment plan that would be helpful for Isabel would be family therapy. Medication can be used to treat SAD but a child that young should not be on those medications if other therapies can work just as well. Since separation anxiety is driven by a fear of being