Anxiety:In Middle School aged Children

By:Ben Schwartz

Courtney SmithLisa Bacevicius

Stephanie Zentner

Definition of Anxiety

• The stress or uneasiness on the mind cause by fear of danger or misfortune.

• Anxiety symptoms and disorders are the number one health problem in America.

Types of Anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder• Panic Disorder• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder• Social Phobia

Symptoms

• Physical– Headache– Nausea– Sweating– Raises blood

pressure/ heart rate– Twitches/ muscle

tension

• Emotional– Nervousness– Fear– Feels tense and

Jumpy– Restlessness– Feeling like your

mind has gone blank

Statistics

• Anxiety disorders affect 18% of the population in a given year.

• Women suffer from anxiety and stress almost twice as much as men.

• Anxiety disorders cost the US workplace 46.6 billion dollars annually.

Effects of Anxiety on the Body and Cognitive Abilities

• Forces a person to lose focus on daily work and instead toward their surroundings.

• The respiratory effects can cause one to hyperventilate.

• Causes loss of blood flow to smaller muscles.• Adrenaline is released causing one to feel

more paranoid.• Causes insomnia. • Causes one’s throat to tighten, making it

difficult to swallow.

Anxiety Affecting a Child’s Development

• Children with anxiety tend to be more submissive and less socially outgoing than healthy children.

• Anxiety can lead to missed school days and inabilty to finish school.

• Anxiety can cause impaired relationships with peers and low self-esteem.

• Children are so afraid, worried, and uneasy that they are not able to function normally.

Suggestions for Preventing Anxiety

• Teachers must educate themselves on the topic.

• Teachers can make video presentations with fun, engaging sounds to get shy students excited and involved

• Teacher should guide student in deep breath and give them words of encouragement.

• Allow child time to play with stress ball and listen to music or engage calming activity

• Allow access to school nurse or social worker throughout the day.

Myths and Misconceptions of Anxiety

• Anxiety can cause death and is similar to Schizophrenia.

• You will have these symptoms forever.• You are crazy.• You must be heavily medicated.• You are having a heart attack• Marijuana is an excellent source.• There is no one in the world that feels the

same.

Educational References for Teachers

• Helpguide.org/mental/separation_anxiety_causes_prevention_treatment.htm– Provides information about anxiety for teachers to become more

familiar • Studentsfirstproject.org/wp-content/uploads/

AnxietyQuickFactSheetStrategies.pdf– Gives teachers ideas of classroom strategies for students with

anxiety• Adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/treatment

– Provides information on treatment so teachers can understand what the student is going through

• Alprazolam.org/anxiety/anxiety-effects.html– Provides information for teachers to understand all aspects of

anxiety in children.• Conqueryouranxiety.org

– Gives tips on to how to prevent anxiety attacks in the classroom.