School is the perfect place for children to make new friends, but the pressure of a new place and unfamiliar faces can be overwhelming for students suffering from social anxiety.
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Anxious students fear being judged negatively by their peers, which can mean their school experience is less than pleasant.
According to Beyond Blue, anxiety affects about one in 10 young people over a one-year period. This includes general anxiety, as well as more specific forms such as social phobia or panic disorder.
Child and family psychologist Virginia Williams from Warehouse One7 in Wollongong said one of the trickiest things about school for children prone to worrying is having to answer a question they may not know the answer to.
"That sense of being put on the spot and looking silly is one of the big things that causes kids' stress," she says.
Other triggers can include performances or speeches in front of a class and being separated from mum and dad.
Research indicates young people can be reluctant to seek help due to shyness, the stigma associated with mental health or uncertainty about where to go.
Dr Caroline Donovan, a clinical psychologist at the Griffith Health Institute, and her colleagues have developed Brave Online, a place where children and teens with social anxiety can learn strategies for managing anxiety-provoking situations.
She says helping students overcome their anxiety issues when they are young means parents and teachers can nip possible future mental health problems in the bud.
"Socially anxious children, they're the silent sufferers, the very good children who get missed, that are suffering on the inside.
"Everyone thinks they're okay, when they're really not."
Recognising their anxiety is the first step children, and their parents and teachers, can take to helping fix the problem.
Talking about the issues with a trusted adult or friend can help normalise the fear and make children realise that they are not alone.
Williams says children with social anxiety tend to avoid the situations that make them uncomfortable, but it's important for students to face them head on.
"Rather than avoiding the anxiety triggers, over time the approach is to gradually fight fear by facing fear," she says.
"The more they avoid them, the less practice they get and the more they fear them. Letting them avoid it will increase the anxiety."
Common symptoms of anxiety:
■Feeling overwhelmed, on edge or worried most of the time
■Finding it hard to stop worrying
■Unwanted or intrusive thoughts
■Beginning to avoid specific situations, places or people
■Having upsetting dreams or flashbacks of a traumatic event
■Lack of sleep due to constant worrying
■Difficult concentrating
■Hot and cold flushes, a tightening chest or racing heart
Where to get help:
■Talk to your family and friends about your worries
■Seek the advice of a doctor, pyschologist or counsellor
■Beyond Blue support service 1300224636
■Lifeline 131114
■Kids Help Line 1800551800
Source: Beyond Blue