What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe. Feeling anxious is a common experience shared by many, particularly around stressful or uncertain experiences such as sitting exams or transitioning to a new school environment. However, some students may struggle to manage their worries, and their anxiety becomes more persistent, significantly impacting their day-to-day activities.
Anxiety on the rise in schools
Anxiety and depression amongst children had been on the rise long before the pandemic, however following successive lockdowns reported mental health problems have skyrocketed. According to the NHS, almost one in five young people now have a probable mental health disorder – up from one in nine before the pandemic.
What are the signs of anxiety in students?
Anxiety can take on different forms for different people, and can be triggered in many ways through experiences in and outside of school.
Emotional based school avoidance (EBSA) is a term used to describe children and young people who experience challenges attending school due to negative feelings, such as anxiety. In this podcast, Thrive’s Relationship Manager, Dom Sagar, discusses strategies for preventing EBSA and supporting anxious students.
Outlined in the podcast, some of the early indicators of anxiety in students are:
- Hypoarousal, often manifesting in the form of freeze responses, mutism and still facial expressions.
- An inability to focus on work.
- Unable to build a relationship with peers/teachers.
- Withdrawing from existing relationships.
Learn more about how to spot the early signs of Emotional Based School Avoidance and discover actionable insights to prevent school anxiety taking hold by listening to the full podcast today.
What are the triggers for anxiety in schools?
Understanding what can trigger anxiety for young people first requires an understanding of how young people’s brains work and develop over time. Our work is underpinned by neuroscience, specifically exploring the connection between adults and children.
The more we understand about neuroscience, the more we understand that humans are in fact wired to connect with other humans. Children should feel safe, heard and understood, and have a real sense of belonging. When they experience low levels of connection, or even disconnection, their need for relationships is not fulfilled. Prolonged loneliness and rejection can lead to mental illness, anxiety, depression, and in older pupils, substance misuse.
This case study demonstrates how impactful a breakdown in school relationships post-lockdown can be, with pupil anxiety drastically increasing after returning to school. It also outlines how the school developed a support plan for their students using the Thrive Approach.
Exams are another key trigger for anxiety in students. This podcast explores mindfulness techniques that can help pupils to manage nerves. In the podcast, experts Rose Webb and Chris Randall also discuss the difference between ‘healthy stress’ and concerning levels of anxiety which may require additional support.
A report based on a year-long inquiry, led by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, found that punitive approaches to behaviour management in schools are harming children and young people’s mental health. The use of behaviour management techniques such as removal rooms, exclusions, and fines for non-attendance were found to be detrimental to student’s mental health and wellbeing. Discover the key takeaways from this report in this article.
How to support students with anxiety
Mindfulness techniques can be a useful preventative tool for helping to manage nerves, particularly when preparing to enter a stressful environment like sitting an exam. Mindfulness practices centre around being aware and present in the moment, popular techniques for practicing mindfulness include breathing exercises. You can discover more mindfulness techniques by listening to this episode of the Tes podcast.
Exploring a change of learning environment can also be beneficial to a student’s wellbeing. This case study reveals how a Thrive Licensed Practitioner used outdoor learning to help transform the behaviour of two pupils who were struggling to stay in class.
It can often be difficult to connect with children suffering from anxiety and deep feelings of sadness through play activities. To overcome this, Thrive Licensed Practitioner Lucy Bone developed a new technique to give children the tools to understand and explain how they feel without having to verbalise their emotions. You can find the activity breakdown of this technique in Lucy's guest blog.
Ultimately, we believe the best way to support students with anxiety is by adopting a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. “By shifting towards prevention of poor mental health and placing more emphasis on developing the emotional resilience, young people are much more likely to succeed academically and do well in most aspects of life.” – Thrive Managing Director Anna Smee.
Over to you
Click here to schedule a Discovery Call with your regional expert to find out how Thrive could be adapted to help young people in your setting. Designed to fit in around your schedule, these free 30-minute conversations via Teams give you a chance to have your questions answered and decide if our service is a fit for your needs.