SEPERATION ANXIETY
The picture
Day 1 of school- You walk to school with your son but
he refuses to leave you. You try harder than ever but he just won’t
let go off you. His initial shallow cry becomes deeper and deeper and there
eventually comes a point when you realise, THIS IS NOT NORMAL. All the other
kids have managed to get inside school, crying for that sake but your son just
won’t let go of you. It hits you! Your son may have
SEPERATION ANXIETY. This is the part when you really start worrying, what if
this doubt turns out to be a reality. You google the symptoms and you find a
list of them and BAM! You were right! Your child does have separation anxiety!
You just took a great hit from feeling uncomfortable about leaving your child,
off to school-to worrying if he’ll ever want to leave again!
What exactly is separation anxiety?
Separation Anxiety Disorder is a psychological condition in which an individual experiences
excessive anxiety regarding separation from home or from people
to whom the individual has a strong emotional
attachment (e.g.
a parent, caregiver, or siblings). It is most common in infants and small
children, typically between the ages of 6–7 months to 3
years. It can
present in a lot of ways .
Here are some of the common presentations you need
to worry about in your child!
·
Recurrent excessive distress when
anticipating or experiencing separation from home or from major attachment
figures
·
Persistent and excessive worry about
losing major attachment figures or about possible harm to them, such as
illness, injury, disasters, or death
·
Persistent and excessive worry about
experiencing an untoward event (e.g., getting lost, being kidnapped, having an
accident, becoming ill) that causes separation from a major attachment figure
·
Persistent reluctance or refusal to
go out, away from home, to school, to work, or elsewhere because of fear of
separation
·
Persistent and excessive fear of or
reluctance about being alone or without major attachment figures at home or in
other settings
·
Persistent reluctance or refusal to
sleep away from home or to go to sleep without being near a major attachment
figure
How do you deal with it?
What
intrigues you, is what do you do about it! The first thing you do is rush to
the doctor, foreseeing this as a potential disorder. The doctor analyses the
condition and makes a diagnosis , which you were the most scared of! How do you go about it now!
Counselling is your ticket out! A
modality called Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT focuses on helping children
with SAD reduce feelings of anxiety through practices of exposure to
anxiety-inducing situations and active cognitions to reduce anxious thoughts.
CBT has 3 phases:
-Education
-Application
-Relapse prevention.
In the education phase, the individual is informed on the different
effects anxiety can have physically and more importantly mentally. By
understanding and being able to recognize their reactions, it will help to
manage and eventually reduce their overall response.
