Coping with Back to School Worries

by Carolina Avila, PsyD

For many children, summer is a time to enjoy camps, to sleep in, and experience overall relaxation. However, August is now right around the corner, and with that comes the back to school rush. It is time to start gathering school supplies and finish, or in some cases start, the summer reading assignments.

As a result, transitioning back to the school-year structure may take time, and you may begin to see behavioral changes in some children. These changes can be signs of anxiety. It is normal and common to experience some level of anxiety. Anxiety can create a positive outcome. For instance, anxiety can help us manage difficult or dangerous situations.  But many times it can become a problem, especially when it begins to affect your child, and stops them from engaging at home or at school.

Anxiety creates physiological changes in the body, such as shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, shakiness, sweating, dry mouth, butterflies or feeling sick to the stomach. In addition to the physical cues, there are also worry thoughts that accompany anxiety. For example, they are worrying that things will go wrong, or I will make a mistake and what if. These worry thoughts are often difficult to stop, which makes it hard to concentrate and finish a task. The physical reactions and worry thoughts can combine to be an unpleasant and frightening time for children – then they will often avoid situations. Avoidance means the child no longer has to face the situation that made them anxious, and they feel better almost immediately. Yet the more children stop or avoid things, the less they do, and the harder it becomes to overcome their fear and anxiety.

So how can parents help? First, it is important to recognize when a child is experiencing anxiety about returning to school. Some specific warning signs are:

• Avoiding talking about school and/or buying school supplies.
• Verbalizing worry thoughts about academic performance or social situations.
• Difficulty falling and staying asleep, and increased complaints – like headaches and stomach aches.

Parents can also help by coaching their children to use different skills in order to help them cope with the anxiety:

• One way is to validate, or let the child know that you understand what he/she is saying or feeling.
• You want to let the child know that you get that they are worried – do this whether or not there is a “reason” to worry. For example, a parent can say, “I see that you are worried a lot about school”.
• Another way to help is to coach the child to breathe more slowly and deeply, especially when the child is feeling intense anxiety in that moment.
• DO NOT say: “There is nothing to worry about.” “Just get over it.” “You worry about the littlest things.” Statements such as these don’t make the anxiety go away, and in fact, they can make children feel worse.
• Encourage the child to make positive self-statements: “It’s going to be hard, and I can do it.”
• Start to build the routine and structure related to school a couple weeks early.

These steps can help to reduce the anxiety and worry that some children may experience when returning to school.

If your child is experiencing anxiety, which is significantly impacting their ability to engage at home and at school, there are a variety of services available in the community to get the help your child may need. Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital can provide parents and children with support and treatments – such as psychotherapy and medication, if warranted. Getting the child help could speed them on their way to feeling like themselves again, and having a successful academic year.

For more information or to contact Dr. Carolina Avila, call 305-355-7147 or email, [email protected].

Carolina Avila, PsyD is an attending psychologist at Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital in the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Adolescents Program and the Child and Adolescent Center.