Separation anxiety is defined as “an intense or prolonged fear of being away from someone,” according to LifeStance Health.
In my observation, it can look like many things—only sharing all your hobbies with another person, feeling worried without someone’s validation or just falling asleep at someone’s house too many nights in a row.
In the Fall of 2020, I moved in with my best friend and her boyfriend. Unfortunately, since things didn’t work out for any of our friendships, I now live alone in my own studio apartment.
While I’ve been reflecting on where everything went wrong, I think separation anxiety had a lot to do with it. You see, when you’re only twenty to twenty-one years old, your brain isn’t developed yet. NPR said your brain fully develops at age twenty-five.
Picture this: three irresponsible young adults trying to figure out life. Three people got too close due to these circumstances and eventually couldn’t live without each other. This “clinginess” became clinical, where work and school no longer was the priority—a clear symptom of separation anxiety.
If I went into details I would be typing for months, and that’s for my journal. They always say to never move in with your best friend and I never understood until now. Personally, I would take this piece of advice and take it a step further—don’t move in with people who aren’t comfortable being alone.