Specialist Clinical Psychologist Müjde Yahşi gave important information about the subject. Even though they are 4-5 years old, the children who cling to their mother's skirt, cannot eat their own food, cannot sleep alone, have intense anxieties and fears, show extreme stubborn behaviors and even experience nausea and stomachaches due to these problems are actually children trying to cope with separation anxiety.
More; It is a disorder observed in children who cannot achieve secure attachment, who are anxiously attached to their mothers, who leave their room early, who are overprotective, who experience long or frequent separations, and in the children of mothers who have an anxious nature, and also in the children of mothers who have to work in infancy.
Separation Anxiety Disorder is the most common anxiety disorder under 12 years of age.
Until the age of 3-4, it is quite normal for a child to have an anxiety reaction to separation from their mother. At this age, children may be afraid of separations, the uncertainty created by abstract thoughts, loneliness and the dark. These fears do not mean that he has a disorder.
Because as the child is separated from the parent with the right parental attitudes, as he learns to relate to others, he learns to cope with his anxiety and such fears begin to fade as the child grows up. However, the increase in the severity of separation anxiety in the child, the persistence of the anxiety and the deterioration of the harmony in the child should bring to mind the Separation Anxiety Disorder.
Separation Anxiety Disorder, in the absence of any separation; the mother's dependency towards her child and her child's chronic anxiety, wanting her child to accompany her and preventing her from going out, afraid that something terrible will happen to her mother or father while the child is at school and she wants to stay at home to prevent it, the child is afraid that something terrible will happen to her outside the home and again wanting to stay at home to prevent this, or the mother is afraid that something terrible will happen to her child while she is at school and therefore wants to keep her at home.
In fact, most often Separation Anxiety Disorder; It is associated with the child's intense anxieties due to the anxious nature of the mother without a separation.
This is mostly seen as school phobia in the pre-school period and in the early stages of primary school, in fact the problem is Separation Anxiety Disorder.
The most common communication method used by mothers of children with school phobia is threatening their children with their own absence. E.g; Threatening statements made to the child such as I will not be your mother if you do not listen to my words, I will be offended if you do not eat, I will leave the house if you misbehave, may initiate separation anxiety in the child.
Or, the child who witnesses the arguments between the parents may see himself as responsible for these arguments, he may fear that one of the parents may leave the house after the argument, and the thoughts that the mother and father will resent each other may initiate separation anxiety in the child.
Finally; The illness and death of a family member or the illness of a child can also initiate separation anxiety.
Anxiety observed in untreated Separation Anxiety Disorder gradually spreads and intensifies. Obsessions may develop, panic disorder may occur, social phobia may develop, specific phobia may be observed, and the anxiety experienced may be carried into adulthood. For this reason, parents who face such a problem should seek support from a specialist without wasting time.
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