Separation anxiety is normally seen in children who are, or feel they are likely to be, separated from their care-giver. What would happen if that followed on into later life? I don’t mean as a direct extension of adults who can’t bare to leave their parents (Although that is not as uncommon as you might think!) I mean more that people with anxiety, and in particular anxiety that limits travel such as agoraphobia, have an attachment to something or someone that subconsciously they feel they can’t let go of. My theory goes that in fact having felt abandoned as a child or having been separated from close people or possessions forcibly might make you cling more to what you know and love in adulthood. What if a belief formed that said the things you didn’t know, and the people you didn’t know were cruel and unkind. Then you would have some kind of travel phobia mixed with some kind of social phobia.
What could one do about such an issue? Well, it seems likely that CBT alone might not be the only answer. If one were to beat the physical symptoms one would be left with the cognitive fear, and although CBT might help with some negative thoughts and beliefs it vcan’t help with the ones you don’t know you have.
It seems to me that in this situation some kind of psychotherapeutic technique might be better, with EMDR and TFT being the fastest, if not the most thorough.
Food for thought.
