Overcoming School Refusal by Garfi Joanne;

Author:Garfi, Joanne;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Australian Academic Press

Chapter 6

Treatment for school refusal

The aim of treatment for school refusal is to provide the child with strategies that allow control of anxiety symptoms hence enabling attendance at school without high levels of distress.

Teaching children strategies they can use throughout the school day not only aids in the management of anxiety but also ensures that their thinking remains rational. When the body is tense and stressed the brain releases cortisol (the stress hormone) to fight the perceived threat that our stressed body suggests. The more cortisol, the more anxious we feel, the more anxious we feel the less likely we are to think logically and clearly and regain control. Indeed, the more anxious we become the ‘dumber’ we get because our body is geared for fight or flight, not logical thought and action. Our prefrontal cortex, the part that does the higher order thinking, goes off line when cortisol is released. The cool thing is, though, that every time we engage in one of the techniques to follow we help relax our body, which encourages the brain to release the antidote to cortisol. We actually have the antidote all geared up and ready for release and it’s called oxytocin. Oxytocin is known as the love hormone but also has a calming and soothing effect, which is exactly what you want when you’re feeling stressed and wound up. The half-life of oxytocin, however, is less than that of cortisol, which is why we need to keep our efforts up when we’re trying to maintain control of anxiety through the strategies outlined in this chapter. It is recommended that children use these strategies on an hourly or two hourly basis beginning as soon as they wake in the morning to the minute they go to bed at night. The use of an alarm, notification on a smartphone or the sounding of the school bell can be used as a prompt to remind the child to undertake whatever strategies they prefer.

Mindfulness and relaxation

Breathing exercises

One of the most powerful techniques that can be taught to the school refuser (or indeed, the anxious parent[s]) is the effective use of breath. Breathing exercises are simple but highly effective and underlie most other techniques. Although we all breathe, not all of us do so effectively when we are distressed. When we become distressed, our breathing becomes short and shallow. This short, shallow breathing is sufficient to keep us from fainting but not enough to relax the muscles. If our breathing is deep, slow and rhythmical, our red blood cells carry that oxygen to all parts of our body and cause the muscles to relax. If muscles are relaxed then there is no message travelling from the body to the brain to request that cortisol be released to fight the perceived threat. If no cortisol is released there is no fight or flight response and if there is no fight or flight response then there is no anxiety. I always teach my clients to practise breathing exercises regularly

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