Being in school and being diagnosed with anxiety disorder can be a worrisome thing for a person with anxiety. School is stressful, especially during the last few years when it comes to doing important exams and it can make it very hard for them to study or even learn during class.
How anxiety affects students
Students suffering from anxiety disorder can make it difficult for them to always be focused on classwork. It affects them in many ways and can make it difficult for them to enjoy school. Here are ways anxiety can affect students inside of class and outside of class:
- Unable to focus
- Trying to avoid group activities
- Low attendance
- May prefer to sit alone or in the back of the class
- Tries to avoid joining in physical education activities
- May sit alone outside of class or eat lunch alone
- Grades might deteriorate
- Could have panic attacks or anxiety attacks
- May become disorganized
- Quality of work could either suffer or rocket due to high anxiety
- Punctuation in class may vary
- Reluctance to actively participate in class
- Difficulty talking directly to authoritative figures
- Difficulty to make eye contact
- Struggle socially and have little to no friends
- Could fidget/struggle to sit still
- Could be easily irritated
- Avoidance to participate in social situations
- Failure to do homework or study
If you are a student that has been diagnosed with anxiety, it’s important that you and your parents talk to the school headteacher about this. This will help the school give you the support you need to feel more relaxed during classes.
How anxiety affects teachers
For teachers, it may be slightly different to students because they have to act as role models for their students. They have to talk to their class and have the confidence to do so. Here are some ways anxiety can affect teachers:
- Struggle to relax during class
- Might become irritated at students bad behaviors easier
- Feeling burnt out when working for long periods
- May struggle to concentrate
- Feel like time is slow for them
- Feel stressed during work hours
- Be less confident
- Easily exhausted
- Become forgetful of tasks they were meant to do
- have the feeling like they’re doing a bad job and worry about that too much
- May avoid social interactions with the other teachers
- May eat alone in their classroom and not in the staff room
Teachers may not show the signs of their anxiety to their class but other teachers may know that they have anxiety. It’s important as a teacher to let other teachers or your boss know that you have anxiety so they can help you with a plan of action to make your days feel better and less draining.
Causes of anxiety for students
For students they may just have simple anxiety, not wanting to come to school for various reasons like fear before exams. But there are many other reasons that they may be anxious and the cause of their anxiety.
- bullying
- Anxious for important exams or scared they will fail
- Something at home may be happening such as domestic abuse
- the student may be in a care home or foster care.
- Past traumas
- Exhaustion
- Family problems
- Loss of a loved one or pet
Causes of anxiety in teachers
For teachers, having anxiety in school during work is hard because students look up to them as role models and for help with their work. It’s hard for a teacher to hide it sometimes for the better of their students’ learning. Just like students there are many causes for anxiety and additionally there is also:
- Fear they do a bad job
- Recent events such as the loss of a loved one.
- Family problems
- Marriage problems
- Pregnancy
- Sexual abuse or domestic abuse
- Trauma from the past
- Start of a new job as a teacher
How school can support students with anxiety
Getting support for a student with anxiety is important to help their grades and to help with their overall experience during school hours. Students with anxiety are unable to enjoy their days at school. In order to get them to have a good experience, you have to try and understand their anxiety and find ways to support them. Here are some examples of how you can support a student with anxiety during school:
- 1 to 1 session with the student
- Chat to parents to understand their situation
- Find things they enjoy and incorporate that in the way you teach them
- Try to treat all students equally
- Increase positive interactions with certain tasks the student may avoid (eg. social activities)
- Build a support network
- Try to help other class members understand the situation (only if the student is ok with you telling the class)
- Ask them privately if they want or need help
How to cope with anxiety as a teacher
As a teacher, coping is important, especially during class hours. It may not be easy to handle your anxiety during lessons but there are ways to help you cope during the day and before the day starts to help you have a good day.
- Meditate on breaks for a few minutes
- Exercise regularly
- try to get some sleep for minimum of 8 hours every night
- Don’t overwork yourself
- Ask for help if you need it
- Listen to relaxing music
- Yoga
- Get support from counselors
- Breathing exercises before and after classes
- Get medication from your GP
How to cope with anxiety as a student
Coping with anxiety as a student is not easy, you may find it hard to interact with others or may feel disconnected due to a lack of friends. This can greatly affect your self-esteem and confidence so finding ways to cope is important. Here are some of the many ways you can cope in school with anxiety:
- Talking to your GP and maybe getting some medications
- Ask for help from a teacher or parent
- Talk to counselors (some schools may have a counselor you can go to)
- Don’t overwork yourself
- Exercise before school
- Learn some breathing exercises
- Maybe find a school club activity you might enjoy (e.g. art) that you can do at lunch
- Ask for private tutoring if you need to
- If you didn’t understand and didn’t want to ask a question during class, ask it at the end of the lesson.