School Avoidance, Anxiety.
Thoughts.
In this topic, I covered school avoidance with a focus on anxiety-related causes.
My understanding of school avoidance as a subject is that it impacts a students performance and quality of life. Anxiety disorders are caused by many different factors and are treated diversely depending on the underlying issue.
An interesting piece of information I learned from this research, which seems obvious in hindsight, is that anxiety can often be a co-morbidity caused by other learning disabilities.
The legal implications for anxiety disorders are covered quite well by laws that govern mental illness, although not always a clear cut case. Like all learning disabilities, it requires intervention, analysis of its impacts and accurate data to the exact detriments to the students quality of life and education.
I’ve only assessed this topic from the stance of IDEA, ADA and 50 currently. A more detailed look into the approaches in my local districts is something I intend on.
Supports for managing Anxiety
Talk to someone you trust. Talking to someone about how you are feeling can be really important, and this could be a family member or someone at school. By doing this, you may realise you are not the only one experiencing these feelings, and adults can help in different ways when they know how you are feeling.
Try out different relaxation techniques. Everyone is different, and you need to find out what works for you to help you relax or calm down. It will be listening to music or going for a walk; for others, it could be using some breathing techniques or reading a book. The important thing is that you are exploring different strategies to help and reflecting on how useful they are. Find what works best for you and practise regularly - developing new and supportive habits takes time and practice.
Try doing something physical. Some people benefit from using stress balls or fiddle toys. They find this can reduce anxiety through distraction (if the mind is occupied, it distracts from the anxiety). You could also try other exercises and note how you are feeling during this or afterwards. Exercise is recognised as being particularly beneficial for anxiety and low mood.
Keep a diary. Notice and record how you are feeling daily and identify what triggers the feelings, what helps and how long the feelings last. Remember to record times where you feel good, too and record successes and achievements.
Distraction techniques. If you notice yourself worrying a lot about something and are finding it hard to stop yourself, try out some distraction techniques, e.g. doing difficult sums in your head, looking around you and thinking in detail about your environment.
Understand the feeling won’t last forever. This could involve thinking about times before when you have felt as bad but later felt better. This is about accepting and understanding how you feel but also knowing the feeling will change.
Analyze your thoughts. Often it is easy for thoughts to become unbalanced and overly negative. After making a note of the thought, consider whether it is accurate and think about what evidence you may have to support or not support that thought. Try and finish developing a more balanced/positive thought that you can write down and remember when you need to.
If you are anxious about doing something, think about why that is and what the threat could be. How could you test out your assumptions safely to see if the threats/fears are realistic or are they exaggerated?
Move forward in small manageable steps. Talk to someone about how you could gradually face your fears in small steps and use coping techniques to help you manage, e.g. use the step-ladder approach.
Try and eat a healthy and balanced diet.
It is essential to have a good sleep routine and to get enough sleep. If you feel you would benefit from more sleep, talk to someone about what could help.
Stay away from recreational drugs, alcohol, late nights and excessive screen time. These do not help you.
