School Refusal - What causes it?

School Refusal – What Causes It?

School refusal is a pattern of resistance to attending school, often stemming from underlying emotional, psychological or educational issues. School refusal isn’t about your child being lazy. Most often, there is a deeper root cause.

According to the School Avoidance Alliance, some of those root causes include depression, anxiety, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Learning differences such as dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyslexia, executive functioning deficits and ADHD may also cause anxiety about school. Additionally, perfectionism, bullying and toxic school personnel may cause a fear of going to school.

School refusal usually starts in middle school and high school when social and academic pressures increase. Refusal doesn’t necessarily mean that your child skips school. Skipping certain classes, or loosing the care to show up are also considered school refusal.

According to NIH, the prevalence of school refusal is anywhere between 1-15% and has steadily grown since the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding the underlying causes of school refusal can help parents recognize its warning signs.

What symptoms indicate school refusal?

Key symptoms can include and not limited to:

Physical Complaints: Frequent headaches, stomachaches or other physical symptoms; especially in the morning or on school days.
Behavioral Signs: Intense distress or resistance before school, tearfulness, tantrums or attempts to hide to avoid going to school.
Anxiety Indicators: Expressions of fear or anxiety related to school, social situations or academic performance.
Changes in Routine: Trouble sleeping, increased irritability or reluctance to discuss school.
Of course, simply leaving school or not showing up to class.

Early intervention is helpful, as school refusal can escalate without support. When school refusal symptoms persist without intervention (getting some clinical help), they can lead to lasting consequences.

Consequences of school refusal.

Getting immediate clinical help, such as therapy and making changes to the family dynamics is the first and critical step. Consequences of not doing so are often:

Social isolation
Social awkwardness
Poor academic performance
School dropout
Major depression (with possible suicidality in extreme cases)

Can school refusal be diagnosed?

Although school counselors and clinicians can technically “diagnose” this, it’s not necessary. As a parent, you will see the signs before anyone else.

What can be helpful, is an academic and psychological evaluation; and from a private provider (versus from a school). These evaluations will diagnose any levels of learning differences, ADD/ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, OCD, depression, etc.

Helping your child through their struggles with school refusal is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. Effective treatment requires an individualized approach. Designing interventions for their specific needs for counseling, academic support, and family therapy, can make a big difference. Building a strong support network around the student including mental health professionals, family and school staff can create a strong scafolding for success.

At Therapeutic Educational Consulting, we help guide, support and recommend for all kinds of therapeutic answers. We can recommend options for psychological testing. Schedule a no-cost discovery call with Rae Guyer, your therapeutic consultant to discuss options.