Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) in a 5-year-old Child: A Case Report

Abstract

Background: One of the most frequent emotional disorders in children is Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD), which can lead to poorer mental and physical health and is estimated at 50% of anxiety disorders. But based on the facts, many adults think that many symptoms of SAD are normal. When suffering from this illness at a young onset, it increases the suicide possibility, morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, early-onset anxiety disorders are also potent indicators of later psychiatric diseases, such as depression, substance use disorders and other anxiety disorders, impairing physical health and academic and social functioning.Case Report: A 5-year-old girl is taken to a primary care clinic by her mother with complaints of not wanting to go to school for the last two months and has started to be too lazy to go to school four months ago. She always cries at home whenever her mother is not around. According to the patient, she is afraid of being left alone, being kidnapped by others or having an accident or death happen to her or her mother. Her social relationships with her friends and academics at school were not optimal because she could not concentrate. Initially, she often complained of abdominal pain, nausea, headache and tantrums every morning when it was approaching the time for school. She also often complained of frequent nightmares during sleep. Her mother also complained that she could not control her bowels and bladder at night recently, even though she could do it on her own back then. Previously, the patient lived with her parents in Pekanbaru but then moved to Batusangkar because her mother moved for work, so the patient had to move house, change school and be far away from her father. Conclusion:The criteria for SAD are exaggerated anxiety and development inappropriate upon separation from an attachment figure, as manifested by the following three items at a minimum: Repeated severe distress with actual or threatened separation from home or an attachment figure, lasting for four weeks in children and adolescents, resulting in clinically significant disturbance in a substantial life function (academic or work performance). Treatments for SAD are psychoeducation (parenting), psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.