Tips for Talking to your Teacher(s) about Anxiety/OCD

It is best to schedule a meeting to talk to your teachers. Explain that you would like to talk to them privately about some challenges you are experiencing, and ask when may be convenient for them. This might be during a free period, lunch time, or after school.

Make sure that there will be adequate time for discussion, so that the conversation is not rushed. If you try to talk to them in class or during a break between classes, they may not be able to completely focus on your discussion, and you may not have privacy.

Setting up a meeting also shows that you have put some thought into the conversation.

Explain that you have a mental health disorder that….(Choose a basic description that you are comfortable with. Examples below.)

• ... is marked by severe anxiety.
• ... causes you to have obsessive thoughts and ritualistic or compulsive behaviors.
• ... causes you to have anxious thoughts that may lead to avoidance behaviors.
• ... causes significant anxiety, and you are currently working with a therapist to get a handle on your symptoms.
• ... causes you significant distress and impairment with your functioning, in school and outside of it.

Feel free to print out pages or fact sheets from this site to further explain, if you think that would be helpful!

It is a personal decision to decide to share information about your anxiety/OCD with teachers. If you decide to share, you do not need to share everything, but consider sharing information on how your symptoms impact your academics/learning, since that is most relevant to them. 

For example:

• Have your teachers noticed your repetitive questioning, excessive checking of classroom work, excessive neatness or organization, re-reading or re-writing, perfectionism, repetitive trips to the bathroom to wash your hands, or avoidance behavior?
• Are you having trouble turning in your work on time, due to excessive rituals?
• Is it hard for you to answer questions in class?
• Are you having trouble staying alert in class, due to difficulty sleeping at night?

It is possible that your teachers may have noticed some delays in your work completion, or other problems. Let them know what you are having trouble with, so they better understand how your symptoms affect you.

Sharing information may also be helpful because your teachers may not even realize that you are having any difficulty at all. Youth with anxiety/OCD often go overlooked by teachers and others due to the nature of how they present, so you may have to clue them in to what you are dealing with. They may be unaware of what you are experiencing inside your head (e.g., feelings of discomfort or fear, intrusive thoughts or urges), since it may not be something they can easily see. Additionally, the nature of some aspects of anxiety/OCD can often be seen as desirable by teachers and other outsiders - such as feeling the need to please others or do the “right thing,” perfectionism with schoolwork, etc. - so they may not recognize the underlying struggles that drive such behavior.

You could provide them with handouts and brochures from the International OCD Foundation or the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, or visit OCD in Kids or the IOCDF Homepage. 

Offer them information on documentaries, such as UNSTUCK: An OCDKids Movie, which may help improve their understanding of OCD, or Angst, which may help improve their understanding of anxiety.

Direct them to the "School Personnel" section of this Anxiety in the Classroom site, which provides resources for teachers and other school staff to learn more about anxiety/OCD.

Consider whether it would be helpful to have an IOCDF representative present to your class on anxiety/OCD.

This might involve working with them to establish a plan to address symptoms when they arise. Your teacher might have good intentions to help you manage your anxiety/OCD, but their solution may be the complete opposite of what you would want them to do (e.g., a suggestion to leave class to go to the school nurse might draw more attention to you, which may stress you out more).

Let them know that you do not want them to treat you differently or “call you out” in front of the class.

You likely want your anxiety/OCD to be handled discreetly so that peers are unaware. Therefore, it may be beneficial to establish a signal or a code word to help you communicate privately during class.

Students with anxiety/OCD have certain rights based on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These laws may allow for certain academic accommodations, which may be detailed in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan.

For example, being in school with your anxiety/OCD:

• Would it be helpful for you to sit in the front of the classroom? 
• Would it be appropriate for you to have extended time to complete work, as you are getting a handle on treatment strategies?
• Would it be helpful to have a plan for you to take a “break” or time out, such as to go to the bathroom or to the school nurse, if your anxiety is escalating? 

These accommodations can often be established by having a meeting with school staff, a parent/caregiver, and a mental health provider.

Keep teachers updated on changes to these accommodations, as it may be a treatment goal to reduce or remove any accommodations over the course of treatment.

If you are having trouble with an assignment or an academic task due to your anxiety/OCD, let your teachers know ahead of time rather than waiting until test day or until after the assignment is due. It is likely that teachers will be more understanding if they see that you are being proactive by trying to address the problem in advance, versus expecting them to make an accommodation after the fact. This will also allow the opportunity for them to help problem solve different ways to help!

It may also be helpful for your therapist to speak with your teachers to help explain your symptoms and to answer any questions. You thus might consider having a parent/caregiver sign a release form to allow your therapist to communicate with your teacher(s).