Often seen in adolescents and in children, separation anxiety is often the result of a past experience or an upcoming event that puts the victim in a situation where he or she has to become separated from something or someone he or she is attached to. The possibility of being separated from something or someone that a person is used to having around often results in separation anxiety symptoms that may last up to four weeks. Although the usual time for these separation anxiety symptoms to subside is a few weeks, there are a few rare cases where the fear does not go away and may sometimes increase.

The usual separation anxiety symptoms that children as well as adolescents may experience include feelings of anxiety, difficulty falling asleep if the source of the separation anxiety or the attachment figure is not near, tantrums, nightmares related to the separation and even homesickness. Sometimes, separation anxiety symptoms may take on physical forms in psychosomatic symptoms like vomiting, dizziness, headaches and stomach aches. [Read more...]