Addressing Anxiety in Our Students

Separation anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, panic attacks and PTSD are just a few of the anxiety disorders we hear thrown around in conversations, in social media posts and on TV. It’s not surprising that anxiety seems to be everywhere – it is the most common mental health disorder in the United States. But I was surprised to learn the statistic that five percent of all children miss school due to an anxiety-related disorder every day in the United States. Given this information, the topic of anxiety definitely deserves some attention and understanding.

Our amazing bodies are hard-wired to respond in certain ways to keep us safe in situations perceived as dangerous. Sometimes called our survival instinct, this instantaneous response works so efficiently that it kicks in before our brains have a chance to consider the situation and make a decision. An example of this is when you are watching a scary movie and you just know something bad is going to happen, but you still find yourself jumping out of your seat when the bad guy pops up with the chainsaw. Despite the fact that your brain knows you are safe on your couch, your eyes see danger and your body reacts.

Understanding the body’s response to stress can help us recognize the symptoms and know how to support our students. When someone sees, hears or experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that helps to process emotions, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus then activates all the other systems in our body that we may need for our fight, flight or freeze response. It’s hard to see all of this at work within the body, but among students you might notice increased breathing, complaints of stomach or headaches, dizziness, or even unexplained itchiness or hives. Since these systems activate almost instantaneously, before the brain has to decide if the stress really requires fight or flight, we need to be able to recognize responses and slow down our bodies so we can appropriately deal with stress.

Recognize the Difference Between Stress and a Potential Anxiety Disorder
Stress is defined as a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. Normal anxiety/stress helps us avoid dangerous situations and gives us a push to get things done. But when stress and anxiety get in the way of making decisions and participating in normal life activities, there may be a problem.

Teach Students About the Brain, Stress and How to Cope

• Help students understand how their brain and body respond to real or perceived threats
• Help them recognize the normal/healthy stress in their life and identify and practice coping strategies that work for them.

Model and practice coping strategies including:

• Organization and decision making
• A healthy lifestyle, including eating well, getting enough rest and exercising regularly
• Relaxation and mindfulness techniques like deep breathing, meditation, and yoga:

Two simple techniques are:

Three Deep Breaths – this resets our brain/body in the same way restarting your computer or phone does.

5-4-3-2-1 Grounding – this helps us use our senses to bring us back into the present moment
5: Acknowledge 5 things you can see
4: Acknowledge 4 things you can touch/feel
3: Acknowledge 3 things you can hear
2: Acknowledge 2 things you can smell
1: Acknowledge 1 thing you can taste
 
Consult and Refer When Needed
Utilize your colleagues, school support staff and community agencies when needed – it’s always better to consult and confer than struggle alone.
 
Kristin Silva is a member of the HSCA board.