A Separation Anxiety Disorder is a condition of psychosis that is greatly on the rise in America. It occurs when the natural tendency of a child to experience anxious feelings about the absence of a parent or caregiver spirals into a full-fledged disorder and can even cause an anxiety attack.
Medical Records indicate the frequent success rate in treating this disorder. The primary reason for this is the characteristic nature of the disorder itself. Because there is a high density of factors – parent, environment, etc. – which are easily controlled it makes for high success rates.
At the same time, however, there are more cases than ever that are highly resistant to improvement. It is the subject of this growing occurrence of pesky strains of this anxiety disorder that this article deals with.
To begin our analysis of this phenomenon, let us start with a clear understanding of what this disorder is about and how it differs from normal levels of anxiety in separated parents and children. We can then look at what constitutes an extreme case and how best to deal with it.
Separation Anxiety can be defined as a psychosis that develops from natural anxiety levels in the child of a parent who is or is planning to be physically absent from the child. Every normal child in a loving environment reacts with some anxiety when parents leave. It is when this natural level of anxiety is allowed to expand into life-debilitating levels, combined with extreme physical and emotional trauma, that we have a full-fledged disorder.
Extreme cases of SAD typically carry the following characteristics:
1. Extreme physical reactions including typical SAD symptoms but taken to an extreme level called a panic attack. Children are often taken to the emergency room for their physical symptoms which resemble asthma or cardiac arrest.
2. A total withdrawal from normal daily routines, activities and regimen, including school and even those that are enjoyed, like play and television/games.
3. Constant and controlled weeping and the demonstrated need to actually be in physical contact with the parent.
4. Extremely distorted and abnormal sleep and sleep patterns, including insomnia, nightmares, etc.
5. Constant expressions of needed reassurance that the parent will not leave.
Handling Extreme SAD:
First, it is clear that extreme disorders require extremely intensive treatment which is closely monitored and controlled by a qualified physician and a psychiatrist. Your involvement will be to carry out the combined wishes of the professionals as well as closely monitoring and documenting and reporting progress.
Your doctor(s) will probably order these or some of these techniques coexistent with medication:
1. Greatly reduced separation at first, followed by a measured process of progressively frequent and longer-duration absences. Your doctors will determine the schedule.
2. Increased local separation – even for short periods of time – without fanfare.
3. Eliminate all negative influences, including network television and violent video games.
4. Increased presence of other loved family members with games and happy times.
5. Highly managed communication with the child, including constant expressions of confidence, love and prescribed separation rituals.
With these and other techniques you should begin to see greatly altered levels of anxiety in your child.
