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Impact of Anxiety/OCD at School

Anxiety and OCD can have a significant impact on your child in the school setting. These conditions can affect how they behave in school, how well they do academically, and how they act socially.

We know that some anxiety can actually help with learning, because it helps drive students to do the work that's necessary to succeed in school. We also know that some anxiety before an important test or presentation is typical for many students. Once the test or presentation is over, the anxiety goes away.

However, a high level of anxiety that remains consistent over time is not normal. Plus, it can get in the way of learning. High levels of anxiety take control of a child’s brain and shut it down. This can make it hard for the child to do anything besides be anxious.

Some experts believe that severe anxiety like this is actually a learning disability. It makes it that much more difficult for a student to learn.

Anxiety/OCD can impact your child in both their learning and behaviorally/socially. Some of the ways anxiety/OCD can impact learning include:

Difficulty taking in information

Students with excessive anxiety may have difficulty paying attention in class. Their worries take up a lot of space in their minds. This interferes with their ability to concentrate on other things, follow multi-step instructions, and switch attention from task to task in a flexible and efficient way.

For example, if your teen is anxious because they think they may have HIV because they may have not washed their hands well enough after having used the bathroom, then they will have a more difficult time learning a new math concept or reading and interpreting a poetry passage. If your child is fearful that something bad happened to you because they are separated from you, then they will have to work much harder than their peers do to follow the instructions their teacher is giving about an art project.

Information is not processed properly

Even if anxious students can pay attention in class, it is often on a surface level because their brain has been over-taxed by their anxiety. Anxious youth do not use previously learned information as they take in new facts. Therefore, earlier learning isn’t expanded upon or developed in an enriching way. In addition, because attention and concentration are difficult, anxious students often have incomplete knowledge in a given area.

Information is not kept in the brain long-term

If new information isn’t being expanded upon, it will not be stored properly in the brain. As a result, your child may have trouble accessing information from their long-term memory. If a student is unable to recall previously learned information, then they may not do well on exams, even if they studied and knew the information the night before. Students may develop “test anxiety” as a result. This further gets in the way of their ability to access their knowledge.

Some of the ways anxiety/OCD can impact your child behaviorally/socially include:

School refusal

Anxious students miss school for many reasons. These include not wanting to be separated from their parents, wanting to avoid social situations, or because of physical illness related to their anxiety, such as a stomachache or headache. When your child is frequently absent, they miss instruction time and it is difficult to catch up on missed assignments. This, in turn, creates more anxiety and stress. It also impacts their ability to perform optimally.

Disrupted sleep

Doing homework often takes anxious students longer due to procrastination, difficulty transitioning between tasks, slow work pace, and/or perfectionism. As a result, your child may stay up late trying to complete their assignments. Anxious students also may have difficulty falling or staying asleep because of worry over things like an upcoming test or social event. Sleep deprivation results in low energy levels. It also disrupts memory and concentration, all of which hurt academic performance.

Difficulty with social interactions

Social anxiety may also impact a student’s ability to participate in classroom discussions, group work, presentations, or other activities that require social interaction with peers. Your child may appear disinterested or “checked out” in the classroom. However, this is actually social anxiety creating an obstacle that prevents them from participating in activities, even when they would prefer to do so.

Slow work pace

Compulsions are behaviors that are intended to reduce anxiety. They may cause a student to work very slowly, due to perfectionism or rituals surrounding note-taking (e.g., checking handwriting quality, organizing notes, and including every bit of relevant information). Students with anxiety may engage in compulsive re-checking of information when reading. This slows their pace and hinders overall fluency. Intrusive worries may also impact decision-making on multiple-choice items (e.g., "Maybe I missed something, let me re-read that last section” and “I should re-check to make sure that I didn’t make a mistake”).

Missing assignments

Executive functioning deficits

Early identification is key

It is possible for your child with anxiety/OCD to perform as well as their non-anxious peers. However, it requires much more effort to do so and often comes with a significantly higher level of stress in the long run. Therefore, it is important as a parent/guardian to pay attention to your child’s work patterns and techniques rather than just their grades. Compare what you notice at home with what you might hear from their teachers or other school staff. Early identification of academic, behavioral, and/or social challenges can help you work together with your child and their school to address obstacles to your child’s school performance before they become serious.