Scholiononophobia (A complete guide)

This article will discuss about Scholionophobia. Then it will mention the age-group which is more like to have scholionophobia.

Then it will discuss the causes and symptoms of Scholionophobia.

Then finally it will highlight the treatment measures that should be taken to cure Scholionophobia.

SCHOLIONOPHOBIA:

Schionophobia refers to the fear of school. It is derived from the Latin Scius which means ‘knowing’.

It is estimated that between 2 to 5% of school-going children have this fear. Another term for the fear of school is Didaskaleinophobia. 

It is common to assume that children skip school because of being bored but sometimes their skipping school is because of being afraid of school rather than just being bored.

In the case of Scholionophobia, the mere thought of going to school brings chills in the children and it can trigger anxiety or panic attacks.

Age-group which is more likely to have scholionophobia:

According to psychologists, this fear often occurs to the children below the 6 years who go to preschools. This might be because of going out of the comfort zone for the child.

A child in his developmental stage goes through many anxiety-provoking moments and it is quite common for the child below 5 years of age to develop a separation anxiety disorder.

And therefore, this is one of the reasons for this age group to develop school fear.

Although it is very difficult to diagnose this phobia as a child is unable to express his feelings openly and accurately.

If the environment of the school for the child is not secure enough, for instance, if the child is usually being bullied at school, or usually gets bad treatment from the teachers, the child is more likely to develop a fear of going to school.

CAUSES OF SCHOLIONOPHOBIA:

To make a diagnosis of Scholionophobia, one needs to be sure that the child is not going to school because of the fear of school and not other factors are involved.

It needs some tests to be done by the psychologists to know the exact reason why the child is not going to school.

Children between 4-6 years often suffer from separation anxiety disorder (as we discussed earlier), this fear is especially separation from the mother who is considered as the first connection of the child.

The child feels that he has lost or will lose his mother or the loved one because of going to school.

Although having a negative or traumatic event in the early years of the child, like the separation of the parents or the death of the loved one creates such kind of fear as well.

This also increases the fear of school as the child fears that he might lose more if he goes to school.

There are chances that some children between ages 13 to 15 years might also suffer from Scholionophobia because of the increase in academic pressure.

The children of this age group often have peer pressure as well as goes through hormonal changes because of puberty and during these changes and the pressure leads to the competitive behavior.

This competition plays an important role in triggering the anxiety.

Therefore, school work or difficulty in a particular subject or difficulty in accepting or adjusting with oneself can lead to the fear of school.

Another factor that can cause school fear is the environment of the school. The overall environment plays an important role in this matter.

Bullying behavior, violent behavior, etc. can also lead to the fear of school which is Scholionophobia.

SYMPTOMS OF SCHOLIONOPHOBIA:

The fear of school phobia can be because of various physical and emotional symptoms.

1. Children below the age of 6 years might show the tantrums while going to school, they might cry or feel sick with the very thought of school. Some children pretend and some actually develop a fever because of anxiety and exertion and the fear of losing the loved one. This is can be very frustrating or a matter of serious concern for the parents as they don’t easily get the idea of how to get rid of this feeling.

1. If the child has already seen the separation of the parents then it is most likely to develop the separation anxiety and in this, the child feels uneasiness, palpitations, dizziness, dry mouth.
2. Other symptoms like shyness and being aloof can be added because of the constant feeling of being alone or left alone. The child feels unable to tell the parents what he is feeling and why is he feeling so and unfortunately most parents also fail in realizing the reason behind their such behavior
3. All these symptoms might increase depressive symptoms in the child as well. The feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, and sadness are often there and this eventually leads to the depressive symptoms in the child   
4. Adolescents more often don’t speak much about their fear, however, they start showing the symptoms of irritability, agitation, factitious behavior, etc to avoid going to school. This age group is also likely to develop Scholionophobia.
5. Panic attacks as we have discussed earlier also can also be a symptom of developing Scholionophobia.

TREATMENT OF SCHOLIONOPHOBIA:

It is a treatable condition and nothing to worry about, although it can be very frustrating and irritating to go through the same turmoil over and over again.

And being a parent it is very distressing to their child crying, sobbing, falling sick, etc every now and then.

It is much easier to treat preschool children than to adolescents and once they pass on adulthood it is very difficult to cure as then it becomes the personality of the individual.

Therefore, it is very important to take appropriate measures at the right age.

Medications:

Medications are necessary to control the symptoms of anxiety, although taking medications without the doctor’s consultation is a strict no.

And parents or the caregivers should be very well aware of the fact that the psychiatric medications do come with some side-effects and these medications will only control the symptoms.

Therefore, it is just a short-term solution to the problem.

To get better results and long-term solution one should consider psychotherapy along with the medications.

Psychotherapies:

Psychotherapies help a child in developing resilience and this leads to the adaptability of the situation and good coping strategies to cope with the negative emotions. 

Behavior therapy, art therapy, and play therapy are most likely to work with younger children (ages below 10 years).

They can also learn mindfulness activities for kids in order to learn to be in control of themselves and develop the art of being in the present.

For adolescents, CBT and art therapy would be better therapy techniques to cure their anxieties, depression and adjustment issues.

Other than these relaxation techniques, desensitization, music and dance therapies can also do wonders.

Apart from all of the above, talk therapy is a must either with younger children or adolescents to vent out their negative emotions as soon as possible.

CONCLUSION:

In this blog, we have learned about Scholionophobia and which age group of children generally have this phobia.

Then we learned about the causes and symptoms of the Scholionophobia.

Later we learned the treatment measure of the Scholionophobia-both medications and psychotherapies.

Feel free to comment below and leave your suggestions, we would highly appreciate it.

FAQ:

CITATIONS:

Fearof.net

Phobia.wikia.org