DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Our daughter has attended school virtually for the past five years and enjoyed the experience. Now that she is heading into ninth grade, she wants a more traditional highschool experience. Nonetheless, she has develop into more nervous as school gets closer and complains about stomachaches. How can I ease the transition for her and help her be less anxious?

ANSWER: School is one of the necessary places where children learn and grow intellectually, socially and emotionally. And while the will is powerful for kids to return to a healthy school environment, change might be difficult.

It is crucial to keep in mind that not every one reacts to vary in the identical way. Your child clearly recognizes that this coming school yr will look different than past years.

Step one to helping your daughter transition is to maintain a healthy mindset and give attention to the positive. Highschool students may find their emotions vary between excitement and anxiety. Although your daughter supports this modification, the closer the change becomes, the more likely she feels nervous.

I might recommend that you just sit down along with your daughter and check out to get a way of what it’s about school that makes her nervous. Is she concerned about making recent friends? Anxious about being overwhelmed by homework? Is there something recent that could be causing anxiety, like coping with a locker combination or switching classes?

Sometimes just with the ability to speak about those details and put the nervousness into words may help a teen who’s feeling anxious. Attempt to help her take into consideration other ways this might prove. Normally, the anticipation of things tends to be worse than the actual experience.

I also recommend that you just talk along with your daughter about your individual experiences moving into highschool and any anxiety you had and the way you overcame it. Doing this can let your daughter know that she’s not alone within the situation, that it’s OK to be nervous, and there are methods to get through it.

Also, have a look at opportunities to ease your daughter right into a back-to-school routine. Refer to the college administration about her concerns. When you can, arrange for a tour of the college or a gathering with teachers prematurely of orientation. Talk along with your daughter about changes in each day routines, which generally is a challenge for everybody — even adults.

Most significantly, remind your daughter to remain flexible and be open to the likelihood that her feelings may change over the course of the yr. And let her know that it’s OK to not feel OK. Teens should must hear that affirmed by the adults of their lives.

For anyone feeling anxious, it is common to be irritable, or feel a way of loss or sadness. Problems with sleep, physical tension and worry may end up.

Consider the following tips to assist manage your daughter’s mental health and ease the transition to this school yr:

• Remember and supportive. As you’ve got already done, be alert to acknowledge any ongoing concerns or anxiety, and proceed to speak along with your daughter about her fears.

• Be optimistic.  Maintain a positive attitude concerning the transition and encourage her to do the identical.

• Practice leisure and learn recent skills to administer stress. Explore how leisure, mindfulness or other stress management techniques, akin to yoga, can calm the mind. Several free classes and mental health apps are online. A lot of these skills are portable and might be used anytime, anywhere.

• Set and maintain a traditional each day routine. Help your daughter aim to get up and go to bed as close as possible to the identical times every day. Remind her to remain hydrated, try to maintain up with a healthy eating regimen and give attention to getting physical activity. A healthy body helps maintain a healthy mood and mindset.

• Find support through friends. Help your daughter discover some friends who also could be transitioning into highschool, either from virtual school or just moving up from middle school. Encourage them to attach before school begins to assist all of them feel more confident.

Some people may struggle with more significant mental health difficulties, so in the event you imagine your child needs additional resources, I like to recommend talking along with her pediatrician or one other health care skilled to locate local mental health resources. — Dr. Craig Sawchuk, Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota