From the Counsellors
Anxiety in young people
Since commencing the new school year, both Junior and Senior counsellors have noted a general increase in young people presenting with anxiety. While feelings of worry, nervousness or apprehension are emotions we all experience at times and can be considered a natural reaction to change or a stressful situation, for some people anxious feelings can become severe and cause a disruption to their daily life and functioning.
If you feel your young person is presenting with symptoms of anxiety that are occurring regularly, over a long period and are impacting their daily functioning i.e., difficulties sleeping, avoidant behaviour, complaining of an ‘upset stomach' or 'sick feeling’, it may be that your young person is experiencing anxiety and we encourage you to reach out to one of our counsellors for support.
We also encourage parents to access our SchoolTV page for up-to-date, evidence-based information and resources that can help support parents in identifying anxiety in young people.
The SchoolTV portal can be accessed from the St Mary’s School website.
Please find a link here to relevant information on SchoolTV that can help provide further information and resources around youth anxiety.
Taylor Fletcher (Kinder–Year 6) and
Rachel Sylvester (Years 7–12)
SMC Counsellors