School Phobia, Panic Attacks, and Anxiety in Children

268 Pages·2003·1.47 MB·English

by  Marianna Csoti

School Phobia, Panic Attacks
and Anxiety in Children
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School Phobia, Panic Attacks
and Anxiety in Children
Márianna Csóti
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and New York
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FirstpublishedintheUnitedKingdomin2003
byJessicaKingsleyPublishersLtd
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Copyright©2003MáriannaCsóti
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Contents
Introduction 7
Chapter 1 School Phobia 13
Chapter 2 Anxiety Disorders 39
Chapter 3 Bullying 65
Chapter 4 Separation Anxiety 86
Chapter 5 Social Phobia 115
Chapter 6 Positively Dealing with the Child’s
Anxieties 164
Chapter 7 When the Child is Severely Affected by
Anxiety and Related Problems 186
Chapter 8 First Steps in Recovery: Letting Go 221
Chapter 9 What to do if the Child Regresses 227
POEM:THEANXIOUSCHILD 236
FURTHERRESOURCES 238
USEFULCONTACTS 242
SUBJECTINDEX 250
NAMEINDEX 266
This book is dedicated to my daughter
and all other children who have had, or currently suffer
from, problems outlined in this book.
I should like to thank Chris and Fiona Woods for all their
help in our time of need, it remains much appreciated.
I should also like to thank Dr Gill Salmon, Consultant
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer in
Child and Adolescent Mental Health, for her considerable
and invaluable help in the final stages of writing this book.
Introduction
No official statistics are available for children suffering from school
phobia in the UK. However, according to Anxiety Care (see Useful
Contacts) the number of children who dislike school, and avoid it
wheneverpossible,isprobablymorethanfivepercentoftheschoolage
population;butlessthanonepercentcouldbegenuinelycalledschool
phobic. The Royal College of Psychiatrists suggests that between five
and ten per cent of children and young people have anxiety problems
bad enough to affect their ability to live a normal life.
Thisbookgivesinformationandadvicetoparentsandcarersof,and
professionals working with, children aged 5 to 16 who suffer from
anxiety disorders, especially separation anxiety and social phobia that
are part of school phobia (see Chapter Two). Chapter One includes
photocopiablepagesforprofessionals,andparentsandcarers,togiveto
teachers to help them understand the anxieties some children have
about school.
Occasionally, a child who has suffered from school phobia in
primary school has it recur in secondary school, often in a different
form.Thisbookhelpsparents,carersandprofessionalssupportchildren
ofanyagetorecoverfromschoolphobia,guardagainstrecurrence,and
guardagainstitstartingwithayoungersibling.Italsohasmanypracti-
cal tips.
My interest in writing this book is largely personal. My own
daughtersufferedseverelyfromschoolphobia,startingjustbeforeher
sixth birthday and coming through about nine months later. She
suffered most of the symptoms mentioned in this book and became a
7
8 SCHOOLPHOBIA,PANICATTACKSANDANXIETYINCHILDREN
sicklychildfromconstantstressandlackoffood.Herabilitytofunction
outside the confines of her home became extremely limited and her
fearsaffectedherwholelife,whichaffectedours.Duringtheextremes
ofhersuffering,sheattendedschoolonlyparttimeonhealthgrounds.
IfoundoutthatmostofthepeopleIturnedtoforhelpdidnotknow
how to give it. Some were unwilling to even try. As one who likes to
problem-solve, I worked hard at finding my own solutions and had
theseconfirmedbymydaughterandthechildandadolescentpsychia-
trist to whom she was referred after persistent requests. The practical
advicegiveninthisbookhascomefrommyownexperienceswithmy
daughter.
It was only when I heard of other children suffering from school
phobiathatIrealiseditwasamorecommonproblemthanI’dthought
andIwantedtosharewhatIhadlearntwithotherstolimitthedamage
toallinvolved,butmostparticularlytothechildrenvulnerableintheir
distress.
The reasons for school phobia to play a part in any child’s life are
varied but the theme that is common to all is stress that the child is
unable to handle. The quickest way through is to remove the stress,
allowingthechildtorelearnthatthethingsheorshenowperceivesas
dangerousarecompletelysafe.If thisisnotpossible,thechildmustbe
helped to deal with the stress and understand why he or she has such
fears and learn to keep them under control.
The stresses in my own daughter’s life that led to school phobia
were the following:
(cid:127) We had moved to a 12th-century castle to be houseparents to
students that lived in that part of the college. The building
was noisy with wind, doors banging, voices echoing in
corridors, flag pole wire banging against the pole, the college
rescue services’ call-out siren (which was an old World War
II siren sited above my daughter’s bedroom), fire alarms
(there was a beeper in my daughter’s bedroom) and doorbells
on both floors of our accommodation (one of which was
fixed to my daughter’s bedroom door).
(cid:127) Drizzle, fog, flies, wind blowing in particles and detector
faults continually set off the over-sensitive fire alarms.
INTRODUCTION 9
Consequently, my daughter became very afraid of fire, of
alarms, of being burnt, of going to sleep and of being left
alone.
(cid:127) My daughter heard students’ footsteps coming up the stone
stairs and was afraid someone would come into her room.
(Strangers had wandered into our flat more than once to look
around, having ignored all the private signs at the gates.)
Consequently, my daughter became very afraid of strangers
coming in, being burgled and, again, of going to sleep and of
being left alone.
(cid:127) Her bedroom had large shadows from the various arches and
doorways and this made her afraid of things lurking in the
dark.
(cid:127) She had a bad bout of croup and vomited before and during
her journey to hospital in the ambulance. She developed a
fear of being sick, of being ill and of dying.
(cid:127) There were three deaths she knew of before her trouble
started and another, a friend of her father’s, later in the year.
This increased her fear of illness and dying.
(cid:127) For some time she had an undetected urine infection that
made her need to frequently visit the toilet. She worried
about needing to go when there wasn’t a toilet. For a year
after her infection had cleared up she continued to go to the
toilet with great frequency, especially when she was anxious.
(This was the last symptom of her anxiety to go.)
(cid:127) She stepped in dog mess one morning before getting onto
the school bus and it made her feel sick. She connected
vomiting in the ambulance with being sick on the school bus
and was afraid to travel on the bus again.
(cid:127) She was sent home from school three times as soon as she
arrived because teachers thought she was ill, but she was just
anxious. This increased her concern for her health, refusing
to believe me when I told her she was fine.