672 CHAPTER 14
fantasies about reuniting. Also, like individuals with generalized anxiety disorder
(see Chapter 7), they may have recurrent fears about harm befalling their parent or
themselves, as JC did, in Case 14.8. Table 14.17 lists additional facts about separa-
tion anxiety disorder.Table 14.16 • DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic Criteria
for Separation Anxiety DisorderA. Developmentally inappropriate and excessive anxiety concerning separation from home or from
those to whom the individual is attached, as evidenced by three (or more) of the following:
(1) recurrent excessive distress when separation from home or major attachment fi gures occurs
or is anticipated;
(2) persistent and excessive worry about losing, or about possible harm befalling, major attach-
ment fi gures;
(3) persistent and excessive worry that an untoward event will lead to separation from a major
attachment fi gure (e.g., getting lost or being kidnapped);
(4) persistent reluctance or refusal to go to school or elsewhere because of fear of separation;
(5) persistently and excessively fearful or reluctant to be alone or without major attachment
fi gures at home or without signifi cant adults in other settings;
(6) persistent reluctance or refusal to go to sleep without being near a major attachment fi gure
or to sleep away from home;
(7) repeated nightmares involving the theme of separation;
(8) repeated complaints of physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or
vomiting) when separation from major attachment fi gures occurs or is anticipated.B. The duration of the disturbance is at least 4 weeks.C. The onset is before age 18 years.D. The disturbance causes clinically signifi cant distress or impairment in social, academic (occu-
pational), or other important areas of functioning.E. The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental
Disorder, Schizophrenia or another Psychotic Disorder [Chapter 12] and, in adolescents and
adults, is not better accounted for by Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia [Chapter 7].Source: Reprinted with permission from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision,
Fourth Edition, (Copyright 2000) American Psychiatric Association.CASE 14.8 • FROM THE OUTSIDE: Separation Anxiety Disorder
JC is a 9-year-old boy who lives with his mother and attends the third grade, where he is an
A student. During the last 2 weeks, he has refused to go to school and has missed 6 school days.
He is awake almost all night worrying about going to school. As the start of the school day
approaches, he cries and screams that he cannot go, chews holes in his shirt, pulls his hair,
digs at his face, punches the wall, throws himself on the fl oor, and experiences headaches,
stomachaches, and vomiting. If he attends school, he is less anxious until bedtime. As his
separation anxiety has increased, he has become gloomy, has stopped reading for fun, and
frequently worries about his mother’s tachycardia [rapid heart rate].
JC was seen once by a psychiatrist at age 3 years for problems with separation anxiety.
He did well in preschool and kindergarten. He was seen at a community mental health cen-
ter during the fi rst grade for school refusal, but did well again during the second grade. In
addition to having recurrent symptoms of separation anxiety disorder, he is phobic of dogs,
avoids speaking and writing in public, and has symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder
and obsessive-compulsive disorder. His mother has a history of panic disorder.
(Hanna, Fischer, & Fluent, 2006, pp. 56–57)