Separation Anxiety Disorder

Separation anxiety disorder is an anxiety disorder in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home or from people to whom they have a strong emotional attachment. Separation anxiety itself is a natural part of development, most common in infants and young children between about six months and three years old, but the disorder is diagnosed when it manifests pathologically in older children, adolescents, or adults; diagnosis requires the excessive fear and distress to persist at least four weeks in children, occurring before age 18, or about six months in adults. An estimated 4.1 percent of children experience clinical-level separation anxiety, compared with roughly 7 percent of adults, rising to 23 to 42 percent in clinical samples.