As highlighted in the accompanying resource, anxiety among students is serious and perhaps more widespread than you might think. Unfortunately, social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common condition that has affected significantly more individuals over the last year, in part due to the challenging conditions in education caused by pandemic restrictions and disruptions.
Pandemic-related issues are far from the only problem contributing to heightened anxiety among students, however. The increased use of social media and other forms of digital communication have served to isolate some students to one degree or another, limiting their face-to-face social interactions and thus preventing them from practicing the social skills that will be important for their personal and professional development throughout life. Compounding the problem is the tendency for social media to expose students to bullying and other negative, hostile types of communication that create stress on top of stress, sometimes with very serious consequences for the victims.
The good news is that SAD is a very treatable condition that need not doom a student to a life of anxiety, underachievement and isolation. The resource presents a number of coping strategies for SAD and should be required reading for students, parents, family members and concerned friends.
The first step in dealing with SAD holds true for most physical and mental conditions: Recognize that there is a problem. For physical ailments, admitting there is a problem is relatively easy. If you are suffering from a broken ankle, cracked tooth or sharp stomach pain, you’re very likely to seek medical attention without thinking twice. However, with psychological conditions
Speak Your Mind