Back to School Anxiety

Going to school can be a stressful for some kids. Recognizing your child’s fear and responding with early intervention can prevent the situation from becoming a real problem.

Kids usually have some amount of fear over what they do not know. First time students and those who are changing schools can have a lot of anxiety about their new school.

So What can you do?

• Give your kid the opportunity to visit the school before the school year starts. This will help them with questions like where’s my class, is my teacher nice, etc….
• Get into a routine weeks before school starts. Students should have a fixed bedtime and wake-up schedule that they are exposed to prior to the start of school.
• Try to put a positive spin on the school experience, try to talk it up for weeks prior to the start of the new year. Make it an exciting thing. Students get excited about the new clothes, backpacks and school supplies, so make sure you bring them into the process of getting ready for the start of school.
• If your child thinks that you are nervous or apprehensive they will assume those same attitudes. Don’t let your own fears pass on to your child. Don’t let them know that you are sad or worried about them starting school.
• Discuss your child’s fears with them, a little bit of talking can go a long way in helping your child to feel at ease with their new environment.

Books that can help the Situation:

• I Don’t Want to Go to School:: Helping Children Cope with Separation Anxiety (Let’s Talk)
• Helping Your Child Overcome Separation Anxiety or School Refusal: A Step-by-Step Guide For Parents
• Helping Students Overcome Depression and Anxiety, Second Edition: A Practical Guide (Practical Interventions in the Schools)
• School Phobia, Panic Attacks, and Anxiety in Children
• The Big Day at School

Childhood Fears that lead to Anxiety

Does your child love roller coasters and scary stories? If not a new study suggests that they may be more prone to anxiety later on in life.

If you have noticed that your child seems to get frightened easily, it may be a good time to try to help them with their fears before they turn into anxiety problems later on in life.

These findings surfaced when Queenland’s University of Technology (QUT) asked children if they enjoyed scary activities, and whether parents considered their children excessively fearful.

The earlier you can identify anxiety in kids the easier it is to help them cope later on in life. For parents who think their child could have a problem with excessive anxiety, experts say that gradual and consistent desensitization is the best way to help them overcome their fears.

Teaching you kids coping and relaxation strategies to deal with their fears will do a lot to ensure that they don’t have problems later on in life.  Experts say you can gradually expose your kids to the things they fear if you do so in a manner that makes it fun and exciting.

For example, if your child is scared of the dark, try to make it fun for them. Slowly expose them to doing fun things in a dark environment. Make a fort, plan a sleepover in their room or backyard, make the whole thing into a real exciting event. Try to explain to them throughout the night how much fun the dark can be. If you can change the way your child views the situation you can slowly help then overcome their fears.

Does Religion help Anxiety?

Science is starting to show that  spirituality is an important element in the treatment of anxiety, disease, and overall health.

A growing number of studies have shown that people who use spirituality to deal with life’s challenges have better physical health and mental health than those who lack a spiritual belief.

A study conducted at Harvard showed that spiritually active people showed many health benefits such as, a boost in self esteem, reduced dependence on alcohol and smoking,  and less depression & anxiety.

Scientists say Gene may cause Anxiety

German researchers say that variations in a gene that regulates dopamine in your brain may explain why some people are more likely to have problems with anxiety than others

The gene, known as COMT, controls an enzyme that helps to break down dopamine in your body. The  researchers found that people with a common variant of the gene tend to have an bigger “startle” response than those that didn’t have this particular gene.

Researchers say that the gene variant probably gave early humans a level of “wariness” that protected them from the dangers they would have faced before living in a civilized world.

While that Gene isn’t needed as much these days, there are ways you can use your biology to your advantage. By simply changing the way you view things you can actually train your brain to respond to anxiety in a way that caused far less anxious symptoms.

Check our our Relaxation Section for techniques to overcome your anxiety.

Does Anxiety make Allergies worse?

Do you suffer from anxiety problems?  Well if you do new research is showing that even a slight amount of stress and anxiety can make a persons allergic reaction to everyday allergens a lot worse.

In a report that was been presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Ohio State University researchers described recent research meant to gauge how psychological stress might affect allergy sufferers.

The study showed that people who are anxious had twice the reaction to allergens than when they were not stressed. The research also showed that that stress and anxiety could make the second day of an allergy attack much worse.

People with anxiety were found to be four times as likely to have a stronger reaction to the allergens even one day after the stress.