Anxiety in Schools
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, approximately 11% of children ages 3-17 are diagnosed with anxiety (9% of males and 12% of females). Anxiety in children is sometimes hard to spot – Below are some tips for recognizing anxiety in students at school and identifying what might be causing the anxiety.
Tips for Recognizing Anxiety
Inattention and restlessness – Sometimes mistaken for ADHD, kids who are anxious have a hard time focusing because their brains are overwhelmed by repetitive and worrisome thoughts.
Attendance problems and/or difficulty separating from adults– School refusal is typically the result of anxiety.
Disruptive Behavior – Student who are anxious often have a heightened flight or fight response and perceive threats even in neutral environments which can lead them to lash out or feel the need to defend themselves using verbal or physical aggression.
Difficulty engaging in learning activities – Students who are anxious often give poor eye contact, are less likely to speak in class, answer questions when called on or turning in assignments.
Frequent Trips to the Nurse – Anxiety can often manifest in physical symptoms such as stomach aches, racing heart rate, difficulty breathing and various body pains.
Learning problems – When a student experiences challenge or failure in a certain subject or learning activity they may appear to have a learning disability. Likewise, when a student has a learning disability, they may become anxious when they are required to do things that are challenging for them.
Avoiding socializing – students with social anxiety may try to avoid activities such as presenting in front of a class, eating in the cafeteria, participating in gym class or doing group work.
How to Help Students with Anxiety
One of the most powerful things you can do as an educator is to learn more about your students’ behavior.
Often, what appears to be willful, disrespectful, noncomplaint or angry behavior is actually the result of fear or panic. Anxiety is the brain’s attempt to protect us from a perceived threat (whether it is realistic or not). Helping students calm their amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for the fight flight or freeze response or FFF) and bring their pre-frontal cortex back on line (the part of the brain responsible for rational/logical thinking and problem solving) is one of the most important things you can do, especially when a student is in the middle of an FFF response.
This can be done through deep breathing and using calming strategies. Helping students learn how their brain works and what they can do to control their anxiety can help prevent dysregulation and support the student’s independent functioning. Although avoiding whatever may trigger the anxiety may support a student who is dysregulated, it is not recommended as a long term strategy. Most professionals agree that helping students with anxiety experience anxiety-producing situations in an incremental and supportive way helps the student develop skills in managing their emotions. Students with severe anxiety that interferes with important activities should be referred to a mental health professional. Both cognitive behavior therapy and medication have been shown to be effective in reducing the impact of anxiety.
Access Training Support
Dr. Holly Galbreath, Ph.D. wrote this post. She provides training for administrators, specialists, certificated educators, and paraeducators around understanding and addressing student behavior, designing systems that effectively support student behavior, crisis prevention & response, and related topics.
Dr. Galbreath is known for facilitating high quality, evidence-based professional development. While grounded in theory, Dr. Galbreath’s professional development sessions are actionable, supporting educators with tangible strategies and tools to make an immediate difference for students.
Dr. Galbreath earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, is a Licensed Psychologist, Certificated School Psychologist, and Licensed District Administrator. She has presented regionally and nationally on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), autism, behavior strategies, mental health in schools, and other topics.
If you’re interested in exploring professional development options with Dr. Galbreath or other DECS team members, please contact us.