Separation Anxiety Disorder Case Study

Tina’s recurrent sudden panic attacks meet the criteria for panic disorder with agoraphobia. She experiences recurrent unexpected attacks, worries about the implications and stays at home because of them, which is a significant change in behavior related to the attacks. These attacks are not due to drug abuse and not accounted for by another mental disorder.

Persistent concern about having additional attacksb. Worry about the implications of the attack or its consequences(e.g., losing control, having a heart attack, “going crazy”)c. A significant change in behavior related to the attacksB. The presence (or absence) of Agoraphobia.C. The Panic Attacks are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism).D. The Panic Attacks are not better accounted for by another mental disorder, such as Social Phobia (e.g., occurring on exposure to feared social situations), Specific Phobia (e.g., on exposure to a specific phobic situation), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (e.g., on exposure to dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., in response to stimuli associated with a severe stressor), or Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., in response to being away from home or close relatives).(APA, 2000)

Prior to Mr. Smith’s diagnosis, Mrs. Smith worked outside of the home on a part-time basis. Her income was set aside to fund Junior’s college education. Mrs. Smith concentrated on maintaining harmony within the home and was a calm, stable influence in Mr. Smith and Junior’s lives. Since Mr. Smith’s diagnosis, Mrs. Smith has started working full time. The stress created by Mr. Smith’s diagnosis and care needs, concern over Junior’s well-being, full time employment, and financial concerns have caused Mrs. Smith to experience generalized anxiety disorder with panic attack specifier as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM, 2013).

Kids or teens with Separation Anxiety Disorder may also begin to experience changes as was the case for Janna Hakims sibling’s. Janna and her two brothers were all born in the U.S. but her mother was not she was Palestinian. Janna explains that she was in shock when one morning she saw her mother being arrested by ICE. Janna also mentions that after her mother’s deportation her family fell completely apart. Her youngest brother 13, at the time of her mother’s deportation began to wet his bed, and her 15-year-old brother began to do drugs and got involved in gang activities. Any one whit ASD will experience changes some will be negative like Janna’s 15-year-old brother and some like her 13-year-old brother won’t be so bad; but they may need the help of a professional, such as a counseling psychologist, to overcome SAD. How is SAD diagnosed? “For a diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder, a clinician looks for distress in being separated from—or anticipating separation from—parents or caregivers that 's excessive for a child 's age and prevents him from participating in age-appropriate activities.” (according to Child Mind Institute). The symptoms are crucial in determining whether the kid or adolescent has SAD. Some are the SAD symptoms are normal in little kids perhaps on their first day of school when they don’t want their parents to leave them. In

Symptoms of separation anxiety disorder are prolonged fear and anxiety when a person or object is separated from the patient. They unrealistically worry about the safety of a loved one. The fear is so intense that it activates the sympathetic nervous system. By activating the sympathetic nervous system the body automatically mobilizes to get back what has been lost. For example, a mother is shopping in the store with her toddler. The child stumbles off without the mother knowing, as soon the mother notices her child missing she darts off looking for him. During this period of time

Separation anxiety disorder involves excessive anxiety concerning separation from home or attachment figures, usually parents.

During the Enlightenment, philosophers were starting to drift away from religion, and many new truths were beginning to be discovered. When these new ideas, or truths, started to make more sense then the certainty of religion, a state of anxiety began to grow within the human mind. As this state of anxiety grew, many anxiety disorders began to sprout and show themselves within humans. These disorders, such as certain phobias, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) began to take over many people’s lives. For many years, doctors have tried using harmful drugs to change the chemicals within the brain, to help relieve anxiety. As truth continues to be discovered, and anxiety continues to rise, therapeutic interventions will be proven to be more efficient in treating anxiety than its counterpart, the dangerous drugs that humans become dependent on.

Panic disorder is dissimilar from the normal fear and anxiety reactions to stressful activities that is a serious illness that strikes without any warning. Panic attacks involve a feeling of extreme anxiety or fear that may last for anyplace among for a few minutes possibly to various hours. Symptoms of panic disorder happens with sudden attacks of fear and nervousness. Also, it causes such as sweating and a racing heart. During a panic attack, the fear response for the situation often is not threatening. Over time, a person with panic disorder develops a constant fear of having another panic attack, which can affect daily functioning and in general in their life. Panic attack is a reaction of the sympathetic nervous system. Panic attacks are not permanently threatening. People can or possibly won’t develop a panic attack at any time in their life. Everyone go through panic in a different way.

Many children with selective mutism speak normally, and often, while around or in familiar people and situations. Situations recognized as familiar and comfortable vary for each child. Generally, children feel most comfortable in their home. One child might whisper to a teacher at school while another child might only speak to one friend in the school setting. While children with selective mutism might have several close friends, the environment in which they are determines whether the child will interact with them. Many will speak freely during play-dates at home and not say one word while at school.

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.

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders in preadolescent children and can cause serious distress in a child’s life. Having separation anxiety disorder in childhood can significantly increase the chances of internalizing problems and other anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, because separation anxiety is common in children it is hard to determine if the behaviors the children are displaying are atypical. Although there are various types of treatment options for SAD, parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) can be extremely helpful particularly in the school system as teachers can adopt the same techniques using teacher-child interaction therapy (TCIT). Therefore, the child is not only receiving treatment at home, their treatment is consistent at school. PCIT has proved to be an efficient and popular treatment for SAD, which will be outlined and confirmed in this paper through analysis of PCIT and TCIT.

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.

Several types of anxiety disorders are discussed in this film. General anxiety disorder is described as a constant feeling of worry and fear for at least six months. A person suffering from general anxiety may experience panic attacks, cold sweats, heavy breathing, and may withdraw from social interactions. It is regularly treated with medications and cognitive behavior therapy, which is a psychotherapy that focuses on helping patients understand the feelings they are experiencing and how those feelings may be contributing to their issue. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is another anxiety disorder discussed in this film. People develop PTSD after experiencing an emotional shock or major trauma. Someone with PTSD may have issues sleeping and controlling their anger; they may experience feelings of detachment, numbness, and may have flashbacks of the traumatic experience causing their PTSD. Like general anxiety disorder, PTSD patients are often treated with medication and cognitive behavior therapy. Recently a new therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, has been used in PTSD patients. This therapy requires the patient to rapidly move their eyes while recalling the traumatic experience. The third type of anxiety disorder discussed in this film is obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD is described

Allison has experienced a few panic attacks in her life, but has not had a panic attack in more than two years. But she still carries Xanax with her everywhere she goes, just in case she needs it. Ever since she was 7 years old, she has worried about random issues. Allison remembers walking through her house at 7 years old, checking on all of the appliances to make sure that they were all unplugged before everyone fell asleep in fear that a fire would break out and burn the house down. Allison was also worried as a 3rd grader about her mother dying any day from cancer, since her mother was a smoker. When Allison was 16, she had great difficulty with learning how to drive in fear that she would be involved in a car accident. Indeed, Allison was involved in 2 car accidents, none of which were her fault.

Selective mutism psychological disorder that is a lack of ability to speak or interconnect with people .Usually appearing Pre-K students between 3 and 5 years when they go to school . Mostly, parents understand their kids SM (selective mutism) when they go to school because SM kids generally they are fine with their family, however, they can’t speak in certain situations such as in the classroom.