» Anxiety

Tips for Overcoming Anxiety

counselorscorner — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:09:03 +0000

This week let’s talk about what a parent can do to help their child overcome anxiety. First, take your son or daughter to his/her pediatrician and seek a recommendation to a mental health professional in your area who works with children. The mental health professional will give your child a comprehensive evaluation. The evaluation will reveal the reasons behind the school refusal and can help determine what kind of treatment will be best.

If you can’t get into the mental health specialist quickly there are some things that a parent can do while waiting for an appointment.

The Anxiety Disorders Association of America recommends the following tips to help your child develop coping strategies for school anxieties and other stressful situations:

Expose children to school in small degrees, increasing exposure slowly over time. Eventually this will help them realize there is nothing to fear and that nothing bad will happen.
Talk with your child about feelings and fears, which helps reduce them.
Emphasize the positive aspects of going to school and being with friends, learning a favorite subject, and playing at recess.
Arrange an informal meeting with your child’s teacher away from the classroom. For middle and high school students, arrange a meeting with the guidance counselor.
Meet with the school guidance counselor for extra support and direction.
Try self-help methods with your child. In addition to a therapist’s recommendations, a good self-help book will provide relaxation techniques. Be open to new ideas so that your child is, too.

As a counselor who has worked with at least 10 students with severe school avoidance anxieties over the past 24 years, I would add to the above recommendation by the ADAA that families work together as a cohesive group and not allow the student to sabotage the work of the mental health professionals and counselors. Be very patient as results do not come quickly in some instances.

Anxiety-based school refusal

counselorscorner — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:56:06 +0000

There are many reasons why anxiety takes hold of a person or specifically a student who refuses to attend school because of it. Starting school, moving, and many other stressful life events may trigger school refusal. Some other reasons include the student’s fear that something will happen to a parent while he or she is in school. Sometimes the fear can be that the student will not do well in school or the student may fear other students whether the fear is real or not. There is a deeper problem of anxiety-based school refusal that affects between 2 to 5 percent of school-age students. According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, it usually occurs between ages 5 and 6 and between 10 and 11, and at times of transition, such as entering middle and high school.

Often students who suffer from anxiety related to school refusal will have average or above-average intelligence. These students may develop serious educational or social problems if their fears keep them from school and friends for any length of time.

Anxiety Symptoms

counselorscorner — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:20:47 +0000

Last week we talked about students who experience anxiety related to school. Let’s continue discussing anxiety related to school attendance. Students who refuse to attend school may complain of physical symptoms just before it is time to leave for school or repeatedly ask to visit the school nurse. Parents will often notice that when these students are allowed to stay home, the symptoms quickly disappear, but will reappear the next morning. This behavior can eventually graduate to the point where a student will refuse to leave the house.

Here are a few symptoms to look for if one of your children is have trouble handling nervousness or anxiety. Common physical symptoms include headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or diarrhea. You may also see other symptoms such as tantrums, inflexibility, separation anxiety, avoidance, and defiance.

Anxiety

counselorscorner — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:50:45 +0000

Last month we addressed the issue of stress and looked at some ways to help manage it. This month we will talk about anxiety and some basic symptoms to look for. Also, towards the middle of the month I’ll offer parents some suggestions on what to do to help your sons/daughters or even yourself with anxiety.

Nervousness and anxiety are normal and most students are likely to experience anxiety at the beginning of the school year or even before each test or project. Anxiety becomes a problem when you experience persistent and excessive nervousness that interferes with everyday activities. For students, excessive anxiety can interfere with academic, behavioral, emotional and social development. One example of severe anxiety is when a student begins to experience nervousness and anxiety at the beginning of a school year and can’t seem to get over these jitters. This student may refuse to attend school or has problems staying in school. Often students may complain about feeling sick on school days or ask to stay home from school with physical complaints, such as stomachaches or headaches that are not related to a physical illness. These symptoms could point to an anxiety disorder and a proper evaluation by a doctor would need to take place in order for diagnoses to be made.