Separation anxiety disorder and separation anxiety are two very different things. Mostly, it is common in those who stay away from their families and loved ones. If they do not see their loved ones near, most often they may suffer from what is called an anxiety issue. Separation anxiety disorder is a worse form of the condition.

Usually, people ask when does separation anxiety disorder develop?

Separation anxiety is one of the most painful psychological events for children and the elderly altogether. No one can really tolerate it and at times can make things worse physically and even mentally for a person.

It is most prominent in young children, separation anxiety occurs when parents keep them away from them. It is a precursor of a more serious condition called separation anxiety disorder. Generally, most children can outgrow the disorder within a certain span of time. Usually, within three years of separation, children will outgrow the condition.

But separation anxiety disorder in adults is also a condition and is often a problematic factor leading to health issues that seem to appear from nowhere.

A lot is already out there about the condition and if you want to know some atypical symptoms of the disease then here is a bit about the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder.

What are the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder is often a question that builds curiosity in people more than even the treatment for separation anxiety disorder.

What are the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder

If you had to put it in a few words, these are a few of the social anxiety disorder facts you’d need to keep in mind.

1. Constant underlying worry is a condition you’d face always when separated from a loved one.
2. You might not feel like being at home alone when being told to.
3. Experiencing nightmares about separation is also a condition you might face
4. Headaches and stomachaches might occur frequently.
5. An overpowering feeling to not do anything in particular
6. Clinginess is a very potent symptom of separation anxiety disorder
7. Panic attacks and frequent tempers might also be potentially observed in such individuals.
8. If and when you worry too much about your safety.

Most of the symptoms will resemble symptoms of other diseases and that way, you might feel directionless even when you visit doctors and if they are unable to trace it for you.

Diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder is an elaborate process and experts usually take the help of questionnaires and a lot of testing methods to reach a conclusion about it.

How to handle separation anxiety

However, the treatment for separation anxiety disorder is one that is not commonly known to the masses and despite suffering from it, there are not many who are capable of finding complete relief from it.

1. Cognitive behavioural therapy

It is a way to judge a child’s anxiety level and treat it maximally. It helps a child better their anxiety disorder and to self-assess and rectify it. There are five simple steps to doing it and if you do not want to visit a specialist every time for your troubles, you can do it yourself at home.

• Finish all your essential tasks and make a list of your problems as the first step in the treatment for separation anxiety disorder.
• Sit and list down all those points that seem to be a worrying factor. You can jot down your troubles as well as point out the troubles you are more concerned with when it comes to your loved ones from whom you stand separated.
• Create a few goals that you want to achieve. Talk to your therapist to find out the goals which you want to focus on.
• Create an awareness of what you think about the problems. How you react to the problems. What are the emotions and beliefs that guide your problems? Even taking down the fears that are associated with the problems.
• Try to notice the negative or inaccurate ideas that you are associating with your problem. Identifying these inaccuracies can benefit you to leave them behind.
• The next process is to reshape and rebuild these negative issues and inaccuracies. It could be difficult when you have to duel with a long-standing issue. But you have t talk it out with someone you believe in and think in a better way about it.
• Record, delete, and replace unnecessary or unproductive thoughts with the most productive ones.

2. Family and the therapeutic benefits of having one should be used to the fullest as this forms an important arm of treatment for separation anxiety disorder.

3. You can also involve friends and schools in the process and that way the child will always have something good, worthwhile, and happy to look forward to.

4. Drugs used in separation anxiety disorders are primarily anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs. They are used for the treatment of separation anxiety disorder but before you are prescribed any drug, do check for the side effects that imminently occur with those drugs and check if you are susceptible to any of the diseases that can commonly be the result of a drug’s side effects.

5. If it is an occurrence in adults, you need to involve your office colleagues in it so that you can always feel better and can share your issues with them.

It is just not children who suffer from it but also adults who suffer from the issue often.

Separation anxiety disorder in adults

When it comes to adults, separation anxiety disorder takes a varied form. Adults are well aware of life and most often experience fear about bad things befalling their separated ones. It is treated as another form of anxiety disorder.

• Refusal to leave the side of loved ones.
• Inability to sleep away from loved ones
• Anxiety attacks or depression
• Headaches, diarrhoea, and pain all over the body are quite imminent in such patients.

They also run the risk of developing other anxiety disorder issues and most often cannot take a lot of anxious or depressing moments.

Treatment for separation anxiety disorder in adults is no different from in children.

Family support and continuous elimination of unwanted thoughts either by writing them down or using more comfortable methods is a way to go forward.

Listing out your thoughts, fears, worries, and pains can make your underlying subconscious self come alive hence if said that separation anxiety disorder in adults is easier to treat won’t be wrong. Adults being more prone to understanding the disorder better can be trained easily.

Read more about other issues you might be thinking of tackling better here