Get a Grip: Living with Separation Anxiety Disorder

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is a serious condition that affects young children, teenagers, and adults alike. This disorder causes intense fear of being separated from one’s parents or loved ones and can severely disrupt one’s life, making it difficult to attend school or work, or keep up good relationships with friends and family.

What is Separation Anxiety Disorder?

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is the most common anxiety disorder among children, adolescents, and adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 3.5% of school-aged children experience it in any given year and 17% will experience SAD at some point during their lifetime. SAD can happen when your brain begins to associate places or events with being separated from someone or something you love or cherish.

What Causes Separation Anxiety?

It's normal to experience some anxiety when you're apart from the person you love. However, if it gets out of control and interferes with your day-to-day life, it may be a sign that you have separation anxiety disorder. This type of disorder stems from being too reliant on your loved one or trying to avoid feeling vulnerable. If this is the case, start building your support system and make sure to set realistic expectations for yourself.

What are the Symptoms of Separation Anxiety?

Separation anxiety disorder, or the feeling of panic when your loved one leaves the house, can often be traced back to attachment difficulties in childhood. The disorder is typified by intense fear, such as heart palpitations, sweating and dry mouth, as well as obsessive-compulsive behaviors such as door checking or calling someone over and over. Furthermore, people who experience separation anxiety are also at greater risk for developing other emotional problems down the line.

How to Treat or Deal with it?

Separation anxiety disorder can be quite debilitating and impact the quality of your life. While there is no cure for separation anxiety, you can still manage this condition so that it doesn't control your life.

Here are some ways to live with separation anxiety disorder:

1) Focus on the present and be aware of the things happening around you. Concentrate on what's going on in the moment to distract from what's happening outside that present moment. Keep yourself occupied by playing a game or reading something while you're waiting at the airport. Bring an activity such as drawing or knitting to work if your job requires sitting at a desk all day and allows these types of activities. Distracting yourself will help keep symptoms like panic attacks at bay because you'll be thinking about something else instead of worrying about whether or not you'll see someone again.

2) Practice relaxation techniques.

3) Get support from family members, friends, co-workers, etc.

How CBT can help

Separation anxiety disorder is frequently treated with cognitive behavioral therapy. The strategy of CBT is to identify and correct unhealthy thought patterns, which in turn can lead to healthy emotional and physical responses. It also teaches relaxation skills for handling difficult situations that are more likely to cause anxiety, such as being away from home for work or school.

How Hypnotherapy Can Help

Separation anxiety disorder is one of the most common forms of anxiety, and for people who experience it, the negative effects can be very serious. Thankfully, hypnotherapy has been found to help combat the severity of separation anxiety disorder in many patients.

The science behind this method of treatment is pretty simple. When it comes to feeling anxious or panicky, there are three areas which can be addressed by hypnotherapy: thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

 Final Words

Separation anxiety disorder is so common that it's actually one of the most common mental health disorders. It's caused by an attachment to an individual or something in the person's life that they are emotionally reliant on, and the fear of them leaving causes extreme distress. If you are dealing with separation anxiety, please talk to your doctor and make sure you get treatment as soon as possible.

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