Return to school and social anxiety

DR ASHA PEMBERTON

teenhealth.tt@gmail.com

Thousands of eager young people excitedly returned to face-to-face classes this week. After complete academic years of online education, consequent isolation and distance from peers, our tweens and teens mostly looked forward to reconnecting with friends, wearing uniforms and engaging in healthy adolescent behaviours. For some, however, the change in routine from a comfortable and predictable home environment to the unknowns of school have precipitated social anxiety.

In general social anxiety disorder (SAD) affects one out of three adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years. It is a very common anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder is characterised by ongoing and pervasive fear of social interaction and/or situations where embarrassment might occur. While it is common to experience some anxiety in new social situations, young people with social anxiety disorder feel overwhelming self-consciousness, distress, and fear of judgement in day-to-day social interactions. The condition prevents individuals from having normal relationships and interactions and negatively affects normal daily activities, including education.

In its most severe form, adolescents with social anxiety disorder frequently avoid social interactions altogether. This leads to diminished relationships, withdrawal and overall isolation. Like many other anxiety disorders, those affected often realise and acknowledge that their anxiety is often unreasonable or unwarranted, but still find themselves trapped in the cycle of anxiety and fear of social humiliation or embarrassment.

As with most mental health disorders in adolescence, social anxiety disorder is not attributed to one single cause. Those with family members affected by mental health concerns, those who have experienced long-term stress or trauma (including the pandemic) and those have had negative social experiences may have an increased risk of being diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. In addition, personality types including those who are naturally shy, introverted or apprehensive to try new things may be at an increased risk for the development of social anxiety disorder as they enter into the adolescent and teenager years.

Parenting style can also play a role. There is research that suggests that helicoptering and overly protective parents can lead to social anxiety, as young people do not develop the self-confidence to believe that they can handle situations. They become excessively reliant on their parents. Hovering parenting styles may keep children from experiencing a healthy level of social interaction, and thus, lacking the opportunity to learn the necessary social skills.

As our young people are about to embark on another transitional point in our experience, we hope that the return to school, and for some, exam preparation brings about excitement, connection and memory-making. As parents, if you recognise that your tweens or teens are overly hesitant, are expressing fear or experiencing physical symptoms of panic, rapid breathing or racing heart rates when preparing or even thinking about school, seek support. Social anxiety is very amenable to treatment through a variety of techniques, but the first steps are awareness and recognition.