Vivienne was given many opportunities as she grew up. Her mother offered her horse riding lessons, music lessons, there were sleep out invitations, parties. She refused to go to all of them. She was rigid with anxiety. She felt that if she were to leave her home and her parents something terrible would happen. A disaster. And she would be left alone in a world without anything familiar.

There is a certain age and stage when separation anxiety is a developmental challenge to be worked through. During this time toddlers cry when their parents leave a room. This stage is typically worked through by age five.

Separation Anxiety Disorder involves similar feelings exhibiting at a developmentally inappropriate age and stage with added intensity and excessive anxiety. Where other children have developed trust and security enough to leave their homes and primary care givers and begin experiencing the world at large the child with separation anxiety disorder is crippled by fear and insecurity.

Symptoms include recurrent, excessive distress upon separation, worry about losing significant others, reluctance and refusal to be out of sight of significant others. The suffering child is literally afraid to look away in case her loved ones are spirited away. He or she will be unbearably anxious when left alone and even afraid to drift into sleep without the presence of significant others.

Treatment for this condition is based on play therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. The child with SAD will be encouraged to express their feelings and recognize the cause of their anxiety. They will be taught relaxation techniques and systemic desensitization.