There are many children who do not like going to school. In addition to requiring effort, school can become a place that causes them anxiety. Today, we will talk about school phobia.
Last update: June 14, 2022
Many people experience different phobias in childhood: fear of the dark, of certain animals, of fantastic characters or beings, of natural phenomena such as storms, etc. However, in most cases, these fears disappear as you grow older. They are therefore called developmental fears. But what happens when certain fears persist over time and interfere with the child's life? An example of this is school phobia.
What is school phobia?
School phobia is defined as the irrational and excessive fear of certain school situations, which generates rejection when the child has to go or stay in school. The causes of this phobia are many. For example:
- Rejection of classmates or teachers.
- Difficulty maintaining high school performance.
- Change schools often.
- Family conflicts.
- Diseases and the resulting symptoms.
All these situations cause in the child excessive anxiety and alterations at the motor, physiological and cognitive level.
Cognitive symptoms
Negative thoughts about school belong to this typology. Above all, we highlight the anticipation of negative situations (such as a reprimand by the teacher), which is not necessarily the case.
The child has a negative view of his or her performance in class and is overwhelmed by the idea of ​​being able to vomit, feel dizzy or present with other physical symptoms in front of his classmates.
Motor symptoms
The main symptom of motor impairments is resistance. This is expressed both verbally and physically when she has to go to school.
The child complains of body aches or says he is sick. Typically, she doesn't get out of bed, doesn't want to get dressed, and doesn't eat breakfast. In short, she doesn't go through the usual school prep routine. When his parents take him to school, he often cries, screams, or clings to them to avoid entering the classroom.
Physiological symptoms
They are characterized by a sharp increase in physiological activation. This is manifested by symptoms such as sweating, muscle tension, stomach pain, diarrhea, dizziness, etc.
School phobia vs separation anxiety
To understand if a child has a school phobia, it is important to distinguish this phobia from separation anxiety.
Separation anxiety is a child's fear of separating from people with whom he or she has a strong emotional bond (usually the parents). For example, when she is separated from her parents to go to school, to go on a hike or to go to sleep at a friend's house.
To know if we are facing an episode of separation anxiety or school phobia, we need to know why the child does not want to go to school. If the problem is only the fear of separation from parents, we can rule out school phobia.
How to overcome the school phobia?
There are various techniques and methods to reduce and solve the problems caused by this phobia. The most effective are based on cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. It is based on the idea that a change on a cognitive level leads to a change in behavior and vice versa. The most common methods are:
- Systematic desensitization. This technique is particularly suitable when the child wants to avoid certain situations at school. It is based on progressively exposing it to them. The aim is to reduce anxiety so that the child can understand that nothing bad will happen. Thus the negative aspects produced by avoidance gradually disappear.
- Develop social skills. The fear of going to school can be based on the rejection that some classmates have towards the child. In this case, we can develop the child's social skills so that he has the right tools to improve relationships with classmates.
- Cognitive restructuring. Cognitive restructuring is based on replacing the child's wrong or irrational beliefs. Through this technique, the negative value associated with the school is replaced by positive values.
- Relaxation techniques. By learning and practicing some relaxation techniques, the child will be able to control the physiological symptoms of anxiety. These techniques must be combined with others such as cognitive restructuring or systematic desensitization.
Drugs for school phobia
The main goal of school phobia treatment is for the child to go to school without feeling anxiety, fear or discomfort. Although drugs can also be used, in most cases antidepressants, it is important to take into account the cost-benefit ratio of their administration.
Some studies suggest that the side effects of drugs must make us reflect on their consumption, especially when we have effective psychological therapies. The psychological approach therefore represents a more effective choice with long-term results.
