Separation Anxiety : A Normal Part Of Childhood Development

Unresolved / Disorganized Attachment the child has an unusually high level of fear and might be disoriented, which can be caused by a traumatic event such as a parent 's death or abuse. A person with a fearful disorganized attachment lives in an ambivalent state of being afraid of being both too close to or too distant from others.  They tend to be mixed up or unpredictable in their moods and experience emotional storms.

Parents that are going through a marriage breakdown, divorce and separation can be stressful for all involved particularly the children/young person. They can become emotionally withdrawn and suffer a lack of confidence which can create low self esteem. Due to family upheaval, they may lose focus in their own abilities and suffer mentally. Similarly, children

Changes to family circumstances can have a profound effect on children. Separation or Divorce can leave the child with a sense of bereavement, like they have lost one of their parents. They may feel angry or confused and worried about what will happen to them in the future. They may also feel that they are in some way to blame for the family breakdown so carry a burden of guilt. These negative emotions may lead to a lack of concentration at school, or exhibits themselves as withdrawn or aggressive behaviours.

Most parents know and understand the struggle of sending their toddler off to school for the first time. Separation anxiety in children normal and happens often especially in situations such as, being sent off to school. In Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model, one of the important points made was how within the microsystems, communications between where and who the child spends most of their time with is essential. It was stated that, the amount of quality relationships between the places the child spends the most time in is an important factor in development. To apply this to the situation of helping to ease separation anxiety associated with going to pre-school, the parent should establish a relationship with the teacher before school starts.

Separation anxiety is very common as children grow and develop. They may fear those few moments during daycare drop-off or that initial first meeting with a new babysitter. These children will often times grow out of this anxiety after they become familiar with their surroundings and caregivers. But, if they continue having these separation anxiety induced outbursts, even after they have been with a trusted caregiver for a time, parents and primary caregivers often worry about the well-being of their child and their child’s development. They may believe that their child has acquired a Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD). I selected this topic because I work with multiple toddlers in a center and their parents have expressed some minor worry towards whether or not their child suffers with SAD or if this anxiety is causing them delays. I would love to be able to know some minor details about this broad topic and refer them to the website and articles that I found helpful when writing this report. This topic is important because it is has many symptoms that are similar to regular and developmentally appropriate separation anxiety. When a child suffers from SAD, it is something that needs attention by a pediatric professional in order for it not to affect the child later in life.

When a child is removed from their home at a young age, the consequences can be more severe. During the ages three and four it is not good for a child to be moved but if they do get moved it is good to have a strong bond with their caregivers. If they get moved repeatedly, it makes their attachment issues more sever. Attachment issues create the following troubles such as; poor eye contact, antisocial, problems with learning and lack of physical affection. Theses are not abnormal for a child with theses issues(“Attachment”). There are two different types of attachment issues and they are the one that babies have which is insecure attachment and for older children it is also called Reactive Attachment Disorder. An infant with this disorder may not smile , or coo or make any sounds , or even does not reach out for you to hold them , they may also reject your affection like trying to soothe

This type of separation is often the most difficult to deal with because i stays with you for eternity. Take the loss of a parent or loved one it doesn't matter how they go that emotional scar will stay with our for the rest of your life and for some people it can cause a lot of problems in their life and often it can be seen by the rest of their loved ones or even friends. Everyone deals with grief differently for some crying can help, for others just having some time to themselves to deal with it but for others with in a tough or terrifying situation they choose to ignore it or even pretend it never happened but in the end that all catches up to a person and in the end they will have to deal with it but it's a matter or if the have to courage to face it and the strength to pull through. That's one of the themes Elie Wiesel portrays in his book Night, is the way that he dealt with grief when he was suffering a very horiffict time in his life and having to deal with the loss of his family. In the book young Eliezer first major separation is from his mother and younger sister, at first he wishes to believe that they are fine and that they are just in a different camp but as time goes on he realizes that he cant stop kidding himself and that it will only make it worse in the end. His first reaction

Children can also experience grief, due to the loss of relationship with their natural parents. When a child experiences a change in their environment they are faced with emotional and psychological challenges. Many children show signs of depression, withdrawal and even aggression. (Chipungu, S) Attachment disorders in some children may cause disturbance of sleep, hoarding food, excessive eating, self-stimulation and failure to thrive.

Today, the exact cause of Separation Anxiety Disorder is unknown (According to an article by Psychology Today). Although the exact cause is unknown, we do know of some risk factors. According to various articles, kids that come from very united families are more likely to develop SAD if separation from a parent occurs or a traumatic event such as, physical assault occurs. Boston Children’s Hospital says that, “…a child can also inherit that parent’s anxiety…” and that “…anxiety may be learned from family members and others who are noticeably stressed or anxious around a child.” Those are only some ways a kid might end up developing SAD. Various articles also suggest that a factor that seems to be common in kids with Separation Anxiety

Children experience separation disorder in a more severe form than infant Children may develop physical complications when separated. Children sometimes get an upset stomach, nausea, or vomiting. Symptoms include hyperventilating headaches and diarrhea. Behavioral symptoms that a child might exhibit when they have anxiety include hesitancy or refusal to separate from the caregiver. The children may start begging, whining, and crying. Having tantrums if confronted with separation is normal. They may refuse to go to school or even refuse to sleep alone. Teen’s experience separation anxiety quite frequently. when separated from their cell phone, or friends. Signs of separation disorder included the constant worry of where the phone is located. They worry about battery life. Adults become paranoid and expect the worst. They begin to hyperventilate some get headaches and become very anxious.

“How can it be, after all this concentrated effort and separation, how can it be that I still resemble, so very closely, my own detestable mother?” (Garbielle Hamilton) A bond is known to be something that joins two people together, emotionally and physically, allowing for a relationship to be formed. The bond between a child and a parent is that of upmost importance as it’s the one that leaves the greatest impact. Children who live in secluded environments due to a parent’s depression become socially awkward and uncomfortable.

If anxiety levels rise in these problems, psychiatric, medical, or social dysfunction may develop (Kerr, 2000). In impairment of one or more children problems, according to Kerr (2000), the spouses focus their anxieties on one or more of their children and the children focus their anxiety on them which can ultimately impair school performance, social relationships, and even health (Kerr, 2000). In emotional distance problems, according to Kerr (2000), people distances themselves from others to reduce the intensity of the relationship, but risk isolation from each other. The fourth concept of this theory is the family projection process. This concept describes the primary way parents transmit their emotional problems to a child (Kerr, 2000). This process can impair the functioning of one or more children and can increase their clinical symptoms. Some problems that children inherit from their parents include the need for attention and approval; difficulty dealing with expectations; the tendency to blame oneself or others; feeling responsible for the happiness of others or that others are responsible for one’s own happiness; and acting impulsively to relieve the anxiety of the moment rather than tolerating anxiety and acting thoughtfully (Kerr, 2000). Parents have different roles in this process: mothers are the primary caretakers and experience more emotional involvement with one or

Maternal separation can have great effects on children in several ways. Being separated from the parent for a great amount of time leads children to develop anger, anxiety, resentment, difficult parental relationships, and other issues in their daily lives. Due to difficult parental relationships, it can also cause issues with other relationships. A study was done by Kalinichev et al. (2002) to compare female and male rats that were maternally separated, handled, or undisturbed as neonates in anxiety-like behaviors, in response to startle-inducing auditory stimuli and elevated plus-maze. It was discovered that having experience with maternal separation leads to a long-lasting rise in anxiety-like behaviors that occurs in a type of sex-dependent manner. Due to this separation and stress that these rats faced, the males and females were less likely to explore the plus-maze. For humans, lengthened lack of contact between a mother and her child can result in great shortfall in maternal attachment. Children who experience this type of separation are most likely to develop insecure attachment styles, anger, and resentment. Above all, maternal separation between a child and mother can affect their attachment, behavior, and mood if not treated.

SAD is one of the most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorders among children. It is completely normal for adolescents, especially in very young adolescents, to experience some degree of separation anxiety. In comparison, separation anxiety disorder is excessive worry or anxiety that goes beyond the expected amount for the child's developmental level. SAD is characterized by excessive anxiety concerning separation from home or from those to whom a child is attached. While some tend to believe that this anxiety disorder is more common among females than males, it has been determined that SAD occurs at approximately the same rate in males and females (Eisen & Schaefer, 2005). Separation Anxiety Disorder is not permanent. It can be cured; however children with SAD are at higher risk for the development of other anxiety disorders and depression not only in adolescence, but in adulthood as well. Studies have shown that children who are diagnosed with SAD are much more likely to have are much more likely to develop panic disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and several others later in life. Studies have also shown that children diagnosed with SAD have similar symptoms that occur among them. Primary symptoms include excessive worry about potential harm to self or major attachment figures, frequent nightmares about separation, physical ailments such as nausea, headaches, stomach pains, as well as

There was an experiment called “The Strange Situation” which studied children when their mothers left them in a room with a stranger, then returned. Researchers studied the reaction when mother both left and returned. A securely attached child would either go to their parent for comfort or greet her with a smile, fully content with what they were doing (Steinberg). An insecurely attached child would want to be picked up but did not feel comforted by it and they could kick or push their mother away (Steinberg). An indifferent child could ignore their mother when they return (Steinberg).