All about Separation Anxiety Disorder (or SAD)
What is a Separation Anxiety Disorder in a child and how can it be properly diagnosed, analyzed and 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. Separation Anxiety is the natural tendency for a child to fear and be uncomfortable during that period of time when you are away. Some level of anxiety exists in every child when its parents are away.
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. The child can become fixed on the possibility of your absence even when there is no indication that you are leaving. 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 demonstrates several of these symptoms on a regular basis when you are or are planning to be away, the child may indeed have SAD. 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.
Related Blogs
- Why do I keep waking up with a rapid pulse? | Health
- What is Separation Anxiety Disorder?
- Understanding the symptoms of Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents | When Panic Attacks
July 17 2010 02:28 am | Uncategorized and six pack abs