Parent Connection: Reduce Back to School Anxiety

Parent Connection: Reduce Back to School Anxiety

Article Found in Depression and Bipolar Alliance (DBSA) e-Update August 2015

It’s nearly time to go back to school! Like any change, a new school year can cause anxiety, particularly so for a child living with a mood disorder. Here are some tips on ways to reduce back to school anxiety:

• Get to know your child’s classmates. Plan a playdate, attend an activity center near their school, text, skype, or find other ways to socialize with the children they will be spending the school year with.
• Start your school schedule early. Gradually change bed and waking times to avoid a sudden, harsh change.
• Set daily expectations. Practice homework at a relaxed pace to prepare for the school year’s work load. 
• Plan a visit to school before it starts to introduce your child to their teacher, classrooms, and other areas of potential anxiety: locker assignments, the lunchroom, bathroom locations, etc.
• Talk to teachers regarding any specific supplies or requirements for their classroom.
• Create a memory book of summer activities as a fun way to close the summer and prepare for classroom sharing.
• Consider planning a fun activity for the first weekend after school starts to blend summer and school. Celebrate the first week back.
• Discuss past experiences and feelings about the upcoming year. Does your child remember being anxious last year? What helped calm those feelings?
• Prepare, but don’t over prepare. With some children, discussing the school year is helpful. For others it is not. It may be helpful to avoid counting down the days to the new school year or to have other conversations highlighting this big transition.
• Stay flexible. After a few days or week of school, organizational systems and other needs may change.

A special thank you to the parents from the Balanced Mind Parent Network (BMPN), a program of DBSA, for sharing their thoughts and ideas on reducing back to school anxiety. BMPN guides families raising children with mood disorders to the answers, support and stability they seek. Go to the BMPN website to learn more.

Parent Connection appears each month in the DBSA eUpdate. Here, parents and guardians can expect to find up-to-date information and resources about parenting children and adolescents with depression and bipolar disorder. We also feature news about Balanced Mind Parent Network online support communities, theFamily Helpline and other family-focused programming.