Separation Anxiety Disorder: A Case Study

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.

Parallel to this, the focus on genetics is Particularly convicted in twin studies, which establish a comparison between monozygotic twins that are identical and dizygotic twins, which are opposingly non-identical. This distinction can be identified in Torgersens study, which compared MZ and same sex DZ twins where one proband had an anxiety disorder, and it was discovered that such disorders were 5x more frequent in MZ twin pairs, who mutually shared identical genetics.

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.

From the start of childbirth, children depend on their parent(s) or caregiver(s) to take care of their needs in life (Rodrigue & Reeves, 2015). Four types of attachment to focus on are: secure attachment, insecure-resistant attachment, insecure-avoidant attachment, and insecure-disorganized attachment. Secure attachment refers to when the parent(s) or caregiver(s) are present in the child’s life. Children feel comfortable about being independent to an extent and will interact with new and familiar things on their own in the presence of their caregiver. Separation may cause distress, due to the dependence and attachment to the caregiver. Insecure-avoidant the child does not rely on the care giver for safety and will be precociously independent. They also do relatively well with the caregiver being non present and opened to interacting with strangers. Insecure-resistant attachment the caregiver has the child more focused on their presence and will avoid new experiences even if the caregiver is present. If separation occurs, they become distress and do not cope well even after their return. Finally, insecure-disorganized attachment children show more disoriented or strange behaviors. They will wander with no purpose and show engagement in any activity while being distressed and confused about what they should do or how to interact with or around the

The concordance rate for twin studies for all anxiety disorders is higher for monozygotic than dizygotic twins, indicating that genetics has a significant impact (Elizabeth, King, & Ollendick, 2004). First degree relatives of individuals who have been diagnosed with SAD have higher rates of SAD according to family studies (Elizabeth et al., 2004, p. 163). There is an incredibly strong relationship between family and the generalized subtype of SAD (Chavira & Stein, 2005). Some studies have found that there is a familial resemblance for phobic disorders, SAD being 51%

The patient is a 28-year-old, Armenian female who arrived on time for her evaluation appointment. Mrs. Muradyan requested to have her 4 year –old daughter be present during the evaluation, to prevent her child’s anxiety symptoms intensifying while being separated from her. It appears that the child’s recent separation from her father may have triggered her to develop symptoms of separation anxiety, which explains and validates the child’s fear of being separated from her mother and always needing to be with her to avoid wondering if something bad is going to happen and “she is not going to be able to see her mother like she is unable to see her father.”

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

I was sitting at my desk looking at the new worksheet my teacher 3rd grade teacher had just handed out. I looked at the clock and saw the time, 11:14, and wrote it on my paper. Later I looked at the clock again, 11:20, and wrote it down again. I glanced at the clock yet again, 11:21, and jot the number down once again. Eventually I had a line of times written down my worksheet. I didn't know why I was doing it, or even that it was weird of me to do it. I just felt the need to do it and I did. It became such a common action that my mom bought be a little notebook for me to specifically write my times in so I didn't have to clutter up my homework.

His mother states that he would cry and refuse to sleep at night when in order to stay home and avoid school. He continues to sleep in his mother’s room as a result of his fear of being alone. On observation, he continued throughout the interview to run to his mother and hug her, before returning to play with his sister. The patient gets scared of being a lone and needs constant reminder that his mother is okay. His anxiety has been ongoing for about 3 years now according to his mother. The patients mother believes that his anxiety may be the reason why he appears shy at school and friendly with family. According to DSM-5 (2013), he meets the criteria for separation anxiety.

The client’s mother referred her son to the agency because he was suffering from anxiety. He was resisting going to go to school and becoming distressed when his parents tried to leave him at home.

Anxiety may be experienced in reaction to the client’s anxiety and varying emotional response including anger, feelings of abandonment, and sadness over loss of therapist, denial, joy at growing up, rejection and guilt. Client reactions may be due to other meaningful “goodbyes” in their lifetime (leaving home, loss of a job, death of a loved one) or due to incomplete early separation with the mother. If the separation process for the client is flawed or unresolved in therapy, the therapist may be seen and a “bad mother” and the client may feel anger and hostility. Faced with such feelings from the client, the therapist might feel anxiety over

The excitement you feel while searching for preschool for 2 year old Frisco TX may be overshadowed by a number of factors. First, you wonder if your toddler is ready for such a big change. You may also wonder if you are in fact ready for it. You know the experience will be wonderful for the development of your little one, as he will learn and interact with others, but you also fear he may experience separation anxiety. You’ve heard horror stories from other parents about the screaming, crying, and tantrums that occur when they leave their children at preschool, and you’re scared the same thing will happen to your child. Fortunately, you can take steps that can prepare

This paper examines the various symptoms of Separation Anxiety Disorder among children and adolescents, the refusal of children diagnosed with Separation Anxiety Disorder to go to school, and the treatments that are used to treat this disorder. Studies have shown that Separation Anxiety Disorder is the third most common anxiety disorder among children. Symptoms are fairly easy to recognize, but must be addressed quickly. Refusal to go to school is one of the most significant consequences of this disorder. Treatments are being made available to children who suffer from this disorder and advances in research are being made.