School phobia in children
That your child does not want to go to school can be more serious than it seems. Some children develop the so-called school phobia, we will tell you how to treat it.
We have all experienced that moment of having to separate ourselves from the hand of our father or mother to begin our journey through school. One could describe many of the feelings and emotions that a child feels when he surpasses that fence that separates him from the family protection to enter reality: his teaching.
SCHOOL PHOBIA MAY NEED PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT
Likewise, school phobia can be defined as a disorder based on the partial or total inability of the child to attend school as a consequence of their fears or some aspects related to the situations that may be experienced at school and that totally influence their behaviour.
Index
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF SCHOOL PHOBIA
When a child presents with school phobia disorder in their day-to-day lives, a series of signs can be observed that help, so to speak, for parents to turn to a specialist for treatment. The main sign, and also the most common, is the child’s behavior not to go to class. Although at first it occurs sporadically, his insistence, claiming that he suffers from ailments or feels bad , ends in the consent of the parents for the child to stay home and not go to school. It should be noted that although it can also occur in adolescents, refusals to go to school occur especially in young children.
In this way, clear symptoms that this disorder produces can also be observed. The main symptoms are based on the existence of situations in which the child is exposed to great anxiety, coming to feel real anguish at the possibility of having to go to school. This anxiety can manifest itself in a physical way with the appearance of pale skin, somatic complaints such as headache or stomach pain, or it can even be the case of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
Similarly, other less frequent symptoms may occur in their behavior, such as depressive symptoms . These symptoms are mainly based on the fact that the child is sad or has feelings of helplessness and insecurity. These types of symptoms occur more frequently in the hours before going to school, they improve during the day, when the child is aware that he does not have to face the fact of going back to school , and worsens at night when thinking that when the next day the same situation will occur again. Thus, they are symptoms that completely disappear during vacation times.
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF SCHOOL PHOBIA
The diagnosis of school phobia is not usually a simple process. The first thing to do when there are symptoms that the child may suffer from this disorder, is to make sure that nothing happens to the child in the physical aspect. Before taking any action regarding the existence of the disorder, a visit to the pediatrician should be made so that he can assure us that the child’s complaints are not justified.
Once the medical test has been passed, the diagnosis of the disorder will proceed. In this diagnosis, various interviews will be carried out, both with the parents, a very important part of this story, and with the child in whom their behavior will be analyzed in greater depth. If necessary, interviews would also be carried out with the teachers of the school in question, in order to get as close as possible to the reason why the child refuses to return to school.
In this way, after the various interviews that have been carried out, a differential diagnosis will be made that will estimate whether the child suffers from voluntary truancy, a disorder with signs of anxiety, with psychiatric signs or a disorder in which problems are appreciated learning or cognitive delays in their behavior.
GO TO THE DOCTOR AND TALK TO YOUR CHILD’S TEACHERS
TIPS FOR PARENTS
The main advice from specialists to parents before going back to school after having diagnosed the disorder of school phobia, is to insist on the immediate incorporation of the child to their classes . If this point is not mainly emphasized, the child will once again adjust to the situation that has arisen and it is very likely that the signs that have already been treated may reoccur.
Likewise, if for any reason the child argues an ailment, do not stop taking him for a medical check-up to see if such an ailment really exists or is it an attempt on the part of the child not to go to school.
In addition, parents should often talk with their children about the fears they present before going back to school, as well as foster relationships with other children their age and inform the school of possible problems that may or may have occurred. in the treatment of the little one.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.