Test Your Knowledge

Children in the stage of development referred to as separation anxiety may display symptoms such as crying, begging or screaming when separated from a parent during times of stress. When parents try to leave children with a babysitter or daycare provider, the child may cry, cling to the parent and resist the attention of others. During this normal developmental phase, children may have nightmares about separation from parents, wet their pants during the day and may complain of various physical ailments, such as headaches and stomachaches.  They also may express feelings such as:

• Distress when separated from a parent or other primary caregiver
  
  
• Fears about losing a parent or primary caregiver
  
  
• Reluctance to go to places – such as daycare facilities or schools – where the child may be separated from parents or primary caregivers
  
  
• Reluctance to sleep without a parent or primary caregiver nearby

Children who experience intense or extreme feelings of separation anxiety into their preschool or elementary school years may have separation anxiety disorder. Children with this condition may have panic attacks or experience other panic symptoms (nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath) before a parent leaves. Children with separation anxiety disorder may demand to know the whereabouts of their parents or caregivers and may become preoccupied with reunion fantasies. They may complain that no one loves them or that they wish they were dead, and may become demanding and in need of constant attention.

Additional symptoms associated with separation anxiety disorder include:

• Depressed mood
  
  
• Excessive levels of worry about being lost or kidnapped, or of harm coming to themselves or their parent or caregiver
  
  
• Extreme feelings of unhappiness or homesickness when separated from home
  
  
• Fear of sleeping alone
  
  
• Refusal to attend school or camp, or to visit or sleep at friends’ homes
  
  
• Shadowing parents or caregivers by following them around the house