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Writer's pictureLuke Watson, LPC

Back to School Dread

Updated: Aug 1, 2018

August is here and that means that the new school year is soon approaching. Having worked at a school for 10+ years, I know the awful feeling of the summer coming to an end. While most students are not necessarily looking forward to returning to school, if you suffer from crippling anxiety or depression, the thought of a new school year may bring outright dread for you.



Back to school can bring a paralyzing fear or overwhelming immobility for many students each year. Many times there has been painful past learning experiences that makes school feel like going into a war zone. Going from class to class, avoiding potential judgements and unkind words, perceived pressure to be perfect, being unable to focus and keep up, trying to hold it all together despite everything else going on, school can be difficult to say the least.


According to statistics, 5.3% or more than 1/20 students experience anxiety or depression to this degree in the U.S. While it is a common experience, it does not have to be a lasting experience. There are evidence-based practices that can help you to manage anxiety and depression. At New Waters Counseling, I help kids and teens overcome anxiety and depression using Mindfulness Based Interventions and practices that can be used anywhere.


Much of anxiety and depression lives in the world of thoughts. Learning how to observe your thoughts instead of attaching yourself to them can bring freedom. Anxious thoughts often live in the future, the hypotheticals and fears of possibilities. Depressed thoughts tend to ruminate and get stuck focusing on the negative while ignoring real positive happenings. The important thing to know is that our thought world is not the real world. What is happening in this moment, what your senses are experiencing, that is what is real. By becoming aware of the present moment and mindfully returning to our senses, we can diminish the attachment and power that anxiety and depression hold on us.



New Waters Counseling can help you find freedom from the anxiety and depression that makes school feel like a prison.


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