Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety is an anxiety disorder that causes excessive fear or anxiety about being separated from a person or place to which an individual is strongly attached, such as a parent, caregiver, or home.
What does separation anxiety look like?
Separation Anxiety is mostly seen in children, but it can also occur in adults. It goes beyond the typical worry or discomfort that people feel when they’re separated from loved ones and can significantly interfere with daily life.
Excessive Worry
Your child may constantly fear something bad will happen to themselves or a loved one when they are apart, such as being harmed or getting lost.
Physical symptoms
Headaches, stomach aches, or nausea when anticipating or experiencing separation.
Difficulty in daily activities
Children with separation anxiety may refuse to go to school, often accompanied by tantrums or emotional distress.
Fear of being alone
Intense fear of being alone, either at home or in other settings.
Clinginess
Not wanting to be parted from a loved one.
Nightmares
Nighttime fears or recurring dreams about separation or harm.
How Does CBT Help?
Separation anxiety can be treated with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which helps you and your child change patterns of thinking and behaviour related to the anxiety.
Exposure therapy, a form of CBT, may also be used to gradually expose individuals to situations involving separation in a controlled manner.