Role of Carcinosinum in managing Separation Anxiety Disorder in children

Abstract

Introduction: Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a condition causing excessive and distressing anxiety about separating from home or loved ones. It starts in childhood or adolescence and continues into adulthood. Symptoms include constant worry about losing a parent or other loved one to an illness or disaster, constant fear that something bad will happen, refusing to be away from home due to fear of separation, reluctance to sleep without a parent or a loved one nearby and repeated nightmares about separation. Case Summary: A 7-year-old boy presented with symptoms of anxiety when going to school, weeping before going to school, fear of being alone, always wanting his mother to be with him and episodes of vomiting whenever thinking of school for three years. The case was treated successfully with Carcinosinum in 200C and 1M potencies, with repetition as per requirement. After 14 months of treatment, the patient was asymptomatic. His quality of life improved, and the screening for child anxiety-related emotional disorders and screening questionnaire for child anxiety-related emotional disorders-parent, having baseline values of 12 and 13, respectively, dropped to 0 each by the end of the treatment. Treatment with individualised homoeopathic medicine was successful in a case of SAD in a child, showing a significant positive impact on the patient’s social and familial life with no negative implications.