My daughter, who has a diagnosis of anxiety, has returned to school. She was at home taking online classes and it was not working out. This is the start of an adventure for her and my family.
Thankfully, Sammi decided on her own to go back to school. She happened to announce it one day as if nothing was ever wrong. She was registered in a new school last week. I provided the necessary paperwork and filled in the guidance counselor and nurse about Sammi’s medical conditions and anxiety.
The first day, there were some butterflies in her stomach, which is normal. But, she got there on time and got her brand new schedule of classes. Everything was going well until Thursday night.
Sammi complained about not feeling well. Her stomach was upset. I tried my best not to jump the gun, but I felt like “here we go again”. In the past, this was her excuse not to attend school, when in fact it was anxiety.
Sure enough, Friday morning it took me numerous times to get ask her to get out of bed and ready for school. She was absent that day. Over the weekend, she kind of acted like she wasn’t feeling well.
She missed school Monday and Tuesday. I took her to the pediatrician because of my dilemma of not knowing if she is truly ill or it is anxiety. He said that she might have a stomach virus that was going around. And since she wasn’t eating or drinking much, he gave her a prescription for nausea medicine.
Today we met with a new psychiatrist that specializes in anxiety disorders in children. She uses behavior modification, especially exposure therapy. We learned that one of Sammi’s biggest fears is vomiting. And it’s like a vicious circle. She gets anxious which causes an upset stomach. She feels more anxious because of the fear.
Starting tomorrow, Sammi is to go to school even if she feels nauseous. She can see the nurse, but can’t come home unless she has a temperature. And she keeps track of her feelings using a simple scale of 1 – 10. Our next visit is next week. Please wish us luck.
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She must be a really brave kid to have taken such a step. I wish her all the best in school. Good luck for you too.
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Twitter: FoundtheMarbles
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Keeping her in my thoughts and hoping that all goes well for her!
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Good luck to her. I have anxiety as well and while vomiting isn’t one of my fears, it’s much harder for me to continue trying to force myself to stay calm once I start getting the physical symptoms that come with anxiety. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to have vomiting be the fear and nausea the symptom.
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Twitter: karenyvonnenet
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You are a trooper. That is pretty tough to deal, especially if you can’t tell if its real or an excuse. Good luck to you
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Hey Connie !
Thanks for this article.
Best, Ralf
Twitter: juliempron
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Wishing you well, hoping that things go well with this specialist.
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Twitter: hchybinski
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thinking about you all.
Hillary
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