Anxiety is a common issue in schools, it’s not talked about much because it brings people even more anxiety talking about it, according to the Child Mindset Institution the reason people avoid social activities or asking teachers for help is because of that anxiety. Anxiety can affect someone’s daily life. For some it is more difficult to speak to others and they fret over small conversations or raising their hand to answer a question during class. For others it is difficult to take tests or think during tests, the environment can make them feel uneasy and make them sweat and feel like they’re being suffocated. Sometimes this can get so bad that they start hyper-ventilating and panicking. Anxiety is something many people struggle with and since anxiety can sometimes get so bad why is there not more talk at school? Students should have a resource to learn how to cope with their anxiety in some way without feeling like their being judged if they were to go to a therapist. That being said, a student from Arvada West was interviewed and this is her experience with anxiety. 

She started noticing her symptoms at around 3rd grade and didn’t get professional help until 7th. That is 4 years of her having to cope with her anxiety without getting professional help. The biggest component of her anxiety was school and overthinking about it because she had this pressure on how she wanted her future to look and that impacted her day-to-day life. To cope with her anxiety she listened to music with headphones on to help relax her and put her at ease.

This shows us that for years she couldn’t get the resources she needed to help with her anxiety until 7th grade, now some people don’t get professional help even though they have had anxiety their entire lives and they end up having to learn to cope on their own. Some people cope with hobbies like music, cooking, and drawing; but some coping mechanisms for anxiety aren’t as healthy. According to The Recovery Village, 20 percent of individuals with anxiety have also been diagnosed with substance use disorder. 

Even though anxiety should be talked about in school, it should not encourage students to go and use substances as a coping mechanism. Instead, there should be a discussion on the healthy ways of dealing with your anxiety so students can have healthy options for dealing with their anxiety instead of abusing substances that could be life altering.

 In the classroom setting communication is key to helping the students succeed in their classes even with anxiety. If talking face-to-face with a teacher is something a student struggles with, sending an email can let the teacher know and there is no face-to-face confrontation. Coming in during office hours and discussing with the teacher about what’s going on and what the teacher can do is also an option. This communication between the teacher and the student would help improve a lot of students’ anxiety over school. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t get many of those emails and very few students come in, so then I am left guessing. I feel like it would be best if the students really worked on communicating with their classroom teachers.” Kerrie Dallman, the social studies teacher at A-West states. 

This shows us that while anxiety is not a very easy topic to discuss or talk about it definitely should be. Discussing in a professional setting and giving kids an idea on what they can do to relieve some of this anxiety would be very helpful to everyone. Anxiety is something that affects people’s daily lives and since that is the case there should be more discussion about it so students, teachers, and others struggling with anxiety aren’t left in the dark feeling like they don’t know what is happening to them or what they can do to help with their anxiety.