separation anxiety [L, separare, to separate, atio, process] , fear and apprehension caused by separation from familiar surroundings and significant people. The syndrome occurs commonly in an infant separated from its mother or mothering figure or approached by a stranger. In a separation crisis the child goes through three distinct states. The protest stage is marked by loud cries, which can last for several days and during which the child is inconsolable. In the second phase the child stops crying and becomes depressed as a result of increasing hopelessness, grief, and mourning. The third stage is one of detachment or denial, in which the child outwardly appears to have adjusted.
