Separation anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder that usually begins in childhood and is characterized by worrying that is out of proportion to the situation of temporarily leaving home or otherwise separating from loved ones. Approximately 4%-5% of children and adolescents suffer from separation anxiety disorder.
The symptoms of separation anxiety includes persistently and excessively fearful or reluctant to be alone or without major attachment figures at home or without significant adults in other settings, persistent reluctance or refusal to go to sleep without being near a near a major attachment figure or to sleep away from home, repeated nightmares involving the theme of separation, repeated complaints of physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or vomiting) when separation from major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated, repeated nightmares about being separated from the people who are important to the sufferer.
According to a survey, projected lifetime risk of any disorder as of age 75 is between 17% (United States) and 69% (Israel) higher than estimated lifetime prevalence (IQR 28-44%). The highest risk-to-prevalence ratios (57-69%) are in countries exposed to sectarian violence (Israel, Nigeria, and South Africa). Excluding these three, there is no strong difference in ratios of less developed (28-41%) versus developed (17- 49%) countries. The highest class-specific proportional increase in projected risk is for mood disorders (45-170%, IQR 61-98%) and the lowest for impulse control disorders (0-14%, IQR 0-2%), consistent with the former having the latest and the latter having the earliest age-of-onset distribution. The projected lifetime risk estimates suggest that approximately half the population (47-55%) will eventually have a mental disorder in six countries (Colombia, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Ukraine, United States), approximately one-third (30-43%) in six other countries (Belgium, Germany, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands), approximately one-fourth (24-29%) in three others (Italy, Japan, Spain), and approximately one-fifth (18-19%) in the remaining countries (Metropolitan PRC, Nigeria).