Separation Anxiety Disorder Treatment & Support

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by a deep fear of losing or parting from a figure of attachment. Affecting both children and adults, separation anxiety connects with a core need for safety in the world and in ourselves.1 

SAD is one of the most common childhood anxiety disorders, and 7% of adults suffer from separation anxiety at some point in their lives.1,2 It is caused by a complex combination of genetic factors, parenting styles, and sometimes trauma, requiring a careful and supportive approach to treatment.1,3,5 

Treatment typically focuses on early experiences with caregivers and present-day anxiety coping strategies, allowing for both a retrospective understanding of someone’s condition and an active approach to managing it.

If separation anxiety is affecting your relationships and well-being, a mental health professional can help you get to the root of the issue and advise on appropriate treatment methods.

Plus, to help clarify this condition and the support available, this article will explore:

  • What separation anxiety disorder is
  • The symptoms of SAD
  • The link between SAD and fear of abandonment
  • Causes of separation anxiety
  • Impacts on daily life
  • Treatment options
  • Where to find professional support 
Man feeling sad looking out the window, in need of separation anxiety disorder treatment

What Is Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD)?

Separation anxiety involves excessive worry, concern, and dread around the real or perceived separation from an attachment figure. While separation anxiety in children is anticipated under the age of three, experts expect it to disappear after this stage.1 

If separation anxiety persists after the age of three, children and adults may qualify for a formal SAD diagnosis. While the attachment figure for children tends to be their parents, adults diagnosed with SAD may fear being separated from romantic partners or their own children. Further, adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) may occur even if people didn’t experience SAD as children.1,3,4 

To determine whether SAD is something you experience and receive appropriate treatment, it’s important to recognize the symptoms. We discuss these next.

Separation Anxiety Symptoms

Separation anxiety can manifest in numerous ways. Someone may be given an SAD diagnosis if they experience three or more of the following symptoms:1 

  • Recurring and excessive distress when a separation from home or an attachment figure is real or anticipated
  • Persistent worry about losing an attachment figure, through death, illness, or injury
    Reluctance or refusal to leave the house because of separation fears
    Refusal to be at home alone or to sleep without being near the attachment figure
    Repeated nightmares about separation and physical anxiety symptoms during a real or feared separation

To be clinically diagnosed with separation anxiety, children and adolescents must experience symptoms for at least four weeks, and adults must experience symptoms for six months or more.1 

SAD and Fear of Abandonment

SAD may be confused with fear of abandonment anxiety, which is not a formal condition. However, fear of abandonment may occur alongside other conditions, such as in borderline personality disorder (BPD). 

While separation anxiety is a fear of being separated, abandonment fears are more personalized, whereby someone fears a loved one will leave them. This distinction points to a wound in someone’s sense of self and worthiness of being loved. Further, some believe abandonment fears underlie separation anxiety, acting as the driving force of SAD. 

As these experiences are quite similar, it’s not always necessary to distinguish them from each other, as long as you are feeling understood and receiving relevant support. 

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Causes of Separation Anxiety

There are a variety of possible separation anxiety causes; each child and adult’s experiences are unique. However, the evidence points to a number of common causes, which we discuss below. 

Genetic Factors

Research has found that there are genetic components to developing anxiety disorders, although environmental factors also play a crucial part. Biologically, people with anxiety may have more reactive threat systems, causing them to form fear associations (for example, around caregivers leaving) more easily and intensely.1 

In addition, people with anxiety may also have difficulty being reassured even when they’re back to safety (for example, once a caregiver returns).1 Other research finds connections between separation anxiety in adults and sensitivity to stress and negative feelings. So, people who are more prone to feelings of sadness and isolation may be more at risk of separation fears.3 

Parenting and Attachment Style

Out of the four attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized), people with separation anxiety disorder are more likely to be anxiously attached.1 Caregiving that causes this attachment style tends to be unpredictable or intrusive, and the child’s clingy, anxious, and angry attachment behaviors are effective in attracting their caregiver’s attention.5 

Other parenting factors that may contribute to separation anxiety in children include those that are overly protective or critical. Plus, children are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder if their parents suffer from depression or anxiety.1 

Life Milestones

Separation anxiety may be triggered by a life milestone, such as a child’s first day at school. This is a common cause of SAD because it is a significant physical separation between children and their caregivers. This form of SAD is usually transient and can be helped by parenting that is firm, reliable, and sympathetic.1, 6 

Other life milestones that may trigger ASAD include someone moving out of their family home, being in their first romantic relationship, or having children.4 

Physical and Sexual Abuse

It’s important to consider trauma in someone’s past, as this may be connected to their separation anxiety. For example, a child who has experienced physical or sexual abuse in the absence of a caregiver may develop SAD out of their fear that it will happen again.1 

Research conducted in 2023 explored connections between separation anxiety and sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect. It found stronger connections between separation anxiety and sexual abuse than any other form of abuse, suggesting a correlation between sexual trauma and adult SAD.7 

Impacts of Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety can have a significant impact on quality of life. People may feel its impacts in school, work, social lives, and close relationships. Plus, SAD can cause physical health complaints like sleep issues and other physical symptoms connected with anxiety.1 

To begin with, panic related to separation in children can create challenges in family life. Morning and evening routines, including goodbyes, can be marred by separation anxiety. Parents may feel frustrated if their child cannot attend school, clubs, or friends’ houses like other children, and worry about how best to manage their child’s anxiety.6 

Further, adults with separation anxiety may struggle to travel independently and experience a limited social or work life because of their condition. Emotional dependency on others due to anxiety may create tension in their relationships, with people either feeding into someone’s dependence or withdrawing from it.6  Finally, research also finds that adults with separation anxiety experience negative thinking patterns around self-image, helplessness, self-blame, hopelessness, and danger. This suggests that people with SAD experience greater levels of cognitive distortions, which can perpetuate separation fears, as well as other mental health issues.7 

It can be lonely to experience separation anxiety, but it is possible to heal from it. In the next section, we’ll discuss the journey of recovering from SAD and ASAD, exploring how the different therapy options work.

Find Anxiety Treatment Programs

A Mission For Michael (AMFM) provides treatment for adults experiencing various conditions. Anxiety support is a phone call away – call 866-478-4383 to learn about our current treatment options.

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Recovering from Separation Anxiety

Like other mental health experiences, there is a great deal of psychotherapeutic support for people with separation anxiety. Some treatments focus on the physical and cognitive aspects of the anxiety experience; these typically aim to calm the nervous system and challenge the automatic thoughts that perpetuate anxiety disorders.8 

While these approaches have their merits, they don’t always pay enough attention to early childhood experiences. Doing so can reveal the reasons why someone finds self-soothing, tolerating anxiety, and having positive relationships with themselves and others a challenge.8 

The best treatment option for you will depend on your personal experiences and how you relate to the specific approach. While some people may prefer to explore their past, others would rather develop coping strategies in the present.

We cover these different approaches in the following section.

Treatment Options for SAD

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): For anxiety around separation, CBT is often a first-line treatment. It typically involves learning about how anxiety works in the brain and body, changing thought patterns, and being gradually exposed to anxiety-inducing situations.1 
  • Psychodynamic therapy for separation anxiety: This approach focuses on early experiences, how patterns repeat across our lifetimes, and how the past is being relived in the present. People with separation anxiety may explore their childhood attachments to explain their present-day fears, helping them process historic wounds with a safe and non-judgmental therapist.
  • Trauma-informed therapy: Trauma-related anxiety disorders may call for this approach, as it is geared towards people with difficult pasts. It won’t necessarily invite people to relive painful memories; trauma-informed therapists will be led by you to explore what feels most useful for your recovery. They may also combine elements from CBT to help you cope with physical anxiety and panic symptoms during attacks, aiming to make separations feel more manageable.
  • Residential anxiety treatment: Inpatient mental health treatment for separation anxiety may be ideal if the condition is severely impacting how you function in everyday life. With structured meals, therapy sessions, group activities, and sleep schedules, residential and inpatient settings provide a great deal of security. Away from the pressures of everyday life, you can focus on your recovery with trained professionals close by.

Check out our other treatments to explore the different types in more detail.

AMFM: How We Can Support You

Whether you want to explore your past, develop coping strategies, or recuperate in one of our residential centers, at AMFM, we offer a range of help for separation anxiety. Moreover, we ensure that every approach we take is evidence-based and personalized.

Get in touch with our team today to learn about treatments for anxiety disorders, separation fears, and other attachment-related difficulties. We’re at hand to help you feel more confident, less fearful, and build toward a more stable future. 

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  1. Feriante, J., Bernstein, B., & Torrico, T. (2023, February 26). Separation anxiety disorder. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560793/ 
  2. Young, E. (2021, October 25). Study explores personalities of people with adult separation anxiety. British Psychological Society. Retrieved January 5, 2026, from https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/study-explores-personalities-people-adult-separation-anxiety
  3. Finsaas, M. C., & Klein, D. N. (2021). Adult separation anxiety: Personality characteristics of a neglected clinical syndrome. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 130(6), 620–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000682 
  4. Bögels, S. M., Knappe, S., & Clark, L. A. (2013). Adult separation anxiety disorder in DSM-5. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(5), 663–674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.03.006 
  5. Riggs, S. A. (2010). Childhood Emotional Abuse and the Attachment System Across the Life Cycle: What Theory and Research Tell Us. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 19(1), 5–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926770903475968 
  6. Psychology Today. (n.d.). Separation Anxiety. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/conditions/separation-anxiety 
  7. Mehmet Çolak, Özlem Şireli Bingöl, & DAYİ, A. (2023). Adult Separation Anxiety and Childhood Traumas: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Distortions. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma 16, 973–980 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00561-x 
  8. Milrod, B., Markowitz, J. C., Gerber, A. J., Cyranowski, J., Altemus, M., Shapiro, T., Hofer, M., & Glatt, C. (2014). Childhood Separation Anxiety and the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Adult Anxiety. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13060781 

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