Separation Anxiety Blended with Superstitious Belief in an Adult Female: A Case Report in Bangladesh

Adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) has been reported in the psychiatric literature with lifetime prevalence of 6.6%, which is associated with different comorbidities. Here, we report an adult Bangladeshi female presented with ASAD for her pets with superimposed superstitious beliefs.

A 27 year- old- female presented with excessive unusual preferences and preoccupation with her 2 cats for the last 4 years. She also presented with severe anxiety, fear, and sleep disturbances with bad dreamsrelated to her pets. She had persistent fear of losing her pets and suspected that people including her family members might harm them. She was increasingly unwilling to keep herself away from the cats, resulting in her social isolation and limitation in other activities. She married 2 years ago after long period of affairs, but refused to stay in her in-laws residence without her pets and she even avoided her husband. She behaves with pets as if they are her children and does not want to have children anymore.

Extreme pet preference with avoidance of usual family life contrasting the cultural belief encouraged the authors to draw the attention of scientific community.