As Back-to-School Approaches, College Students Aren’t the Only Ones Facing Anxiety – Tips for Anxious Parents
- Parents sending children to college may experience generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, or panic symptoms, especially when worry becomes persistent, excessive, or disrupts daily functioning.
- Healthy coping strategies include acknowledging emotions, maintaining routines, scheduling regular communication with your child, prioritizing sleep, exercise, and nutrition, and leaning on family, friends, and other parents.
- Professional mental health support is recommended when anxiety persists, intensifies, or causes panic attacks or significant difficulty functioning during the transition to college.
By: Emma Llorente
As August quickly approaches, back-to-school jitters are setting in. What happens when parents of college-age students start to feel the same anxiety as their kids?
While college students may be full of excitement at the start of a new school year, parents can be full of worry and fear for their children’s safety and academic progress.
Here are a few tips for managing and understanding the stress that comes with sending your kids off on their own.
Healthy Parental Coping Mechanisms During the Transition
- Acknowledging feelings without self-criticism
- Developing new routines, including a communication schedule with your child to stay connected
- Staying healthy with a balanced diet, exercise, and enough sleep
- Getting involved in your child’s college community through parent associations, family weekends and events, local chapters, philanthropic events, and sporting or extracurricular events
- Connecting with family and friends
- Getting support from other parents who are also going through this transition, or have gone through it in the past
Types of Anxiety, Symptoms, and Knowing When to Seek Professional Help
Feeling worried about your child leaving for college is normal. But when fear becomes severe or doesn’t go away, it’s important to recognize when to seek professional help.
There are different types of anxiety, including:
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): Parents may feel extreme and constant worry about their child, whether it be over health, safety, or school concerns. When parental worry is out of proportion to the risk or disrupts a parent’s routines, their ability to concentrate, or how they function normally, that’s a sign of GAD.
- Separation anxiety disorder: Parents may have a lot of difficulty being separated from their child. Even parents without a history of separation anxiety may experience it when their child leaves to college.
- Panic disorder: Parents may have a sudden panic attack, with racing heart, shortness of breath, or heavy sweating. This can be brought on by a major life change, such as a child leaving home for the first time.
If you notice any of these symptoms, it may be time to speak with a mental health professional that can help. You don’t have to wait for symptoms to become overwhelming to look for support. To learn more about Jackson’s mental health services, call 305-355-7147 or visit JacksonBehavioralHealth.org.
When a child starts or leaves for college, a parent undergoes a transition that can trigger a range of emotions. It’s important that they take care of themselves so they can continue to help their children, regardless of their age.