SCHOOL PHOBIA : SOLUTIONS TO HELP YOUR CHILD

With stomach pains, fits, crying and vomiting, is your child literally sick at the thought of going to school? Does getting through the classroom door seem impossible, despite his or her sincere desire to go? Leaving for school can be a real ordeal for some children. Parents, at a loss for words, can't tell the difference between comedy and real emotional distress. In the USA, between 1% and 5% of students are affected by school phobia. Most of them are considered lazy or drop-outs, and are gradually pushed out of the school system.

Yet they want to learn, and have the ability to study. So how do you help your child get back to school? What are the solutions to school phobia? Discover a few ways to help and support these school-hungry students.

Detect the first signs of school phobia to find solutions

The first symptoms of school phobia are generally difficult for parents to detect. Very often, they see this persistent refusal to go to school as a whim or a lack of willpower. But spotting the early warning signs can help you diagnose the problem and find the right solutions to help your child.

What is school phobia?

It's an intense fear for no apparent reason that prevents a child from going to school. It manifests itself in intense anxiety and panic attacks at the mere thought of going to school. If forced, they'll find a way to avoid class, spending their days in the infirmary, for example. He'll complain of various ailments to justify his inability to attend school. In other words, the student will put in place avoidance strategies to protect himself from the anxiety-provoking situation. This excessive, uncontrollable anxiety has nothing to do with laziness or a lack of interest in learning. On the contrary, students with school phobia love learning and want to invest themselves fully in building their knowledge.

What are the causes of fear of going to school?

The causes of anxious school refusal are multiple and differ as much as there are patients. Determining the origin of this disorder is essential to finding solutions to school phobia. In the majority of cases, the following dominant factors are identified:

▶️ Separation anxiety: traumatic events (death, separation from parents, etc.) can reactivate distressing memories buried in the child's memory. As a result, they no longer want to go to school, preferring to stay with their parents.

▶️ Causes specific to the pupil: fear of failing, fear of assessments, performance anxiety, fear of others, etc.

▶️ School-related trauma: bullying, humiliation, mockery, physical or moral aggression, etc.

▶️ Difficulties in adapting to the traditional school system: children who are intellectually precocious and/or have learning difficulties don't fit into the traditional school system.

School phobia should not be confused with dropping out of school. When children drop out of school, they no longer derive any satisfaction from learning and understanding the lessons. Conversely, anxious school refusal is an involuntary fear: the student wants to learn, but is unable to go to class. It is therefore essential to identify the causes of a child's phobic behavior in order to find appropriate solutions to school phobia.

What are the symptoms of school phobia?

This profound anxiety about going to school generally manifests itself in children as :

▶️ abdominal pain

▶️ nausea and vomiting

▶️ sleep disorders

▶️ insomnia on school nights.

When it's time to leave for school, the child goes into a frenzy: crying, screaming, restlessness, violence, etc. In other words, he's overwhelmed by uncontrolled emotions. In other words, he's overwhelmed by uncontrollable emotions. The panic is such that it's no longer possible to reason with him or communicate with him. If the parents decide to take him home, he calms down and promises to return to school the next day. But the next day, the scene repeats itself identically. These symptoms only occur on school days, and disappear on weekends and vacations.

These manifestations of anxiety demonstrate real psychological suffering. It's really painful for the child: he's not putting on an act. He will put up with this state of unease for some time, until he can no longer attend school.

Have your child accompanied by a specialist to help tame his anxieties

If left untreated, school phobia can have serious consequences. It leads to high absenteeism from school, falling grades and a disconnection from learning. On the social side, the long-term repercussions are manifold: feelings of guilt, depression, isolation, dropping out of school, and so on. Psychological follow-up is essential to help the child heal and return to school.

Psychological treatment for anxious school refusal

The diagnosis of school phobia can be made by consulting a child psychiatrist. From then on, personalized support and responses adapted to the child's psychological difficulties can be put in place. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the more effective the improvement in phobic disorders will be. So, if in doubt, don't hesitate to make an appointment with a specialist as soon as possible.

Therapeutic treatment as a solution to school phobia

Many psychologists and child psychiatrists use cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) to treat school phobia. These therapies focus on identifying the child's or teenager's emotions and anxieties when attending school. On the cognitive level, work is carried out to process the thoughts that cause problems. For example: “I'm afraid of other people”, “I'm going to have a bad day at school”, etc.

At a behavioral level, progressive exposure to anxiety-provoking situations enables the student to confront his or her fear rather than run away from it. CBT gives excellent results for school phobics who, deep down, want to combat this severe anxiety so they can return to school.

Offer support with a personalized book

When your child goes back to school for the first time, give him or her a personalized book from Hooray Heroes with a school theme.