Here's how to manage your children's back-to-school anxiety

Heading back to class can be anxiety inducing for some children, according to a local psychologist, and CTV News Ottawa looks further into how to help them manage the stress.

Dr. Carole Gentile, psychologist at CHEO, told CTV Morning Live Friday nervous anticipation about the first day of school is entirely normal. She says that anxiety often manifests itself in "what if" questions, such as:

"What if I don't get my preferred teacher? What if my best friend is not in my classroom? Or what if Grade X is just more difficult than the one I've just completed?" Gentile said.

Normal vs detrimental anxiety

Gentile notes that anxiety is a normal human emotion that parents should not try to eliminate, especially when the child experiences it in response to stressful life events.

However, they should investigate further when the anxiety reaches chronic levels, becomes highly distressing and gets in the way of functioning, she adds.

"(When it is) debilitating, then I would guess that the problem predated that first day (of school) and maybe you're asking yourself some good questions about how my kids are doing in general?" Gentile explained.

Here's how to help alleviate the normal back-to-school anxiety:

Gentile recommends encouraging children to face their fears by doing difficult things. She says this not only alleviates their stress, but also makes them more resilient.

"It's all about coping with this adversity," she explained.

She also recommends reminding your children that they have done this before and constantly reassuring them.

Validating the child's feelings is also an important technique to help, she notes. To do so, you should listen to them, without rushing into problem solving.

By doing so, she says, you would be reminding them that it is entirely normal to feel that way and "you'd be reflecting back to them what you see."

On the first day of school, she recommends having everything prepared, so they can get a pleasant experience.

Here's what to do when the anxiety is detrimental:

It's critical that parents avoid giving blanket reassurances like "everything's going to be fine" to kids with anxiety, according to Dr. Daniel Chorney, a child and adolescent psychologist in Halifax.

"The unfortunate truth is sometimes it's not all fine." he said. "The messaging should be: 'Even when it's not all fine, you can get through it,'” Chorney told The Canadian Press.

The worst thing parents can do, mental health experts agree, is allow a child to stay home from school because they're anxious.

”We know how anxiety works when you avoid something you're afraid of. The power of that thing grows," Chorney said.

"And so avoiding (it) is actually the fuel that drives anxiety over time."

While feeling normal anxiety about the first day of school does not require professional help, CHEO’s centralized service is always there to help those showing detrimental signs.

More information about the service is available at cheo.on.ca.

Kids Help Phone provides free support and resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Phone [phone]. Children and youth can text 686868 and adults can text 741741.

Anxiety Canada provides resources at www.anxietycanada.com.

School Mental Health Ontario provides resources for parents at https://smho-smso.ca/parents-and-caregivers/

With files from the Canadian Press