Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety (SA) can be experienced by anyone and at any age, when a needed/loved person is absent, however the roots of separation anxiety lie in infancy. How it is managed depends on the person’s mental structure and attachment history.
The force to maintain physical closeness to caregivers and protectors is deeply rooted in many species. In prehistoric times, members of hominid species who become separated from others were at high risk of being killed by predators of other tribes. Hence, the fear of being separated is one of the most primitive of all fear responses. When suddenly separated, the synchronised response of physiological arousal, cognitive awareness and emotion of fear act as a powerful motivator of action to restore contact with the close others.
Homo Sapiens is a collective species and individuals highly rely on their primary bonds with other family members, kinship group and society as a whole. The allegiance to the group occurs because of the inclination to form and maintain bonds and affiliate, which is deeply rooted in our biological makeup. When separation anxiety is excessive and persisting, it causes the individual considerable distress and social disfunction. Although originally separation anxiety disorder (SEPAD) has been recognised as a disorder of childhood, it is clear that separation anxiety can occur throughout the lifespan. Adults commonly experience severe SA. In its extreme form, it may be manifested in excessive and disproportionate feelings of anxiety when separated.
Adult SA symptoms often happen in individuals who were involved in anxiety-driven and intense attachment patterns including close others, such as parents, intimate partners or children. These individuals would report persistent, distressing and preoccupying worries about safety, health and whereabouts of one or more of the close ones. The fears were inseparably immersed with concerns about personal health and safety in the absence of attachment, pointing out the mutual nature of anxieties. Experienced fears were often overwhelming and not responsive to reassurances of others. As a result, the pattern created an all-absorbing state of anxiety that would distract an individual from other activities.
In cases of intense separation anxiety, when the close attachment was not contactable, the person would experience intense psychological arousal and prevailing need to find and make contact with a “missing” person. Reactions as such would occur in seemingly benevolent circumstances, for example when contact with a close person was delayed for a short period of time. Yet, the person with separation anxiety disorder would become affected with catastrophic thoughts around fears that their close contact had been injured, killed, or even abducted. The reaction could include frantic attempts to find the “lost” person by engaging in a direct search or endless phone calls to friends, family, not unusually emergency services, hospitals or police. Reaching this state, a person with separation anxiety disorder would be unable to be reassured. Once contact with the attachment figure is established, the state of arousal and anxiety is decreased, however, as a result, the person feels exhausted for several hours.
