Adult Separation Anxiety

Anxiety can be brought on by many things. One common source of anxiety is separation from home or an attachment figure. It is often thought that a diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder is solely for children. However, there is growing evidence that an adult form of separation anxiety does exist.

A University of Toledo* study found that first semester college students exhibited signs of separation anxiety disorder. In these cases anxiety or panic attacks were associated with separation from attachment figures. This anxiety caused the students to stay closer to home when choosing a college. However, it did not appear to affect the student's academic performance.

Why is the diagnosis important? A diagnosis of panic disorder in this case would not assist in effective treatment because the focus would be upon the physiological symptoms rather than the separation events.

*Seligman, Laura D., Wuyedk, Lisa A. (2007). Correlates of Separation Anxiety Symptoms Among First-Semester College Students: An Exploratory Study. The Journal of Psychology, 141(2),135 - 145

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Stanford Studies Moms and Daughters with Panic Disorder

Stanford University School of Medicine is seeking 200 moms and daughters to study panic disorder and its effects:

The purpose of this project is to evaluate vulnerabilities of adolescent daughters of women with panic disorder to identify factors that make risk for future anxiety problems more likely. In particular, we are testing whether at-risk daughters attend more to threat in the environment than do daughters of mothers with no history of anxiety or mood disorders. We are also interested in understanding how mothers with panic can help minimize anxiety developing in their daughters.

This is a paid study and more information can be found here.

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