School can trigger emotion, anxiety

As families prepare for the start of a new school year, parents should be alert for signs of emotional distress in young children.

Unlikely as it may sound, children ages 6 and younger may face a host of mental-health issues, from disruptive behavior problems and attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder to psychosis and major depression.

"It's not a discovery to us, but I know it is for the public and even for many pediatricians," says Dr. Peter Gorski, a University of South Florida pediatrician who specializes in developmental and behavioral medicine and research at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County.

Gorski says as many as 10 percent of American children will have an episode of clinically significant depression at one time or another. Starting or returning to school can be stressful and trigger emotions and anxiety in children that even the most attentive parents may miss.

"School can put (children) over the top. It has nothing to do with school, actually. That's just the place the child brings his emotional baggage," says Gorski.

Colette Parker of Tampa thought her youngest son, Xavier Williams, would handle kindergarten without much fuss, just as his older brothers did.

But two weeks into his first school year she started getting calls from his teacher. Five-year-old Xavier was throwing things, blowing up emotionally, running out of the classroom, acting aggressively and physically fighting with other children. The teacher couldn't handle him.

Parker, 33, says her son had a difficult time making the adjustment from the familiar friends and caregivers at day care to the more structured environment of kindergarten. Day care was all about play. "In school he had to sit down and do work," says Parker.

Different people, a different environment, a different routine and different expectations can all affect how a child feels and behaves in school.

"We see a lot of families who never had issues with their kids until school started," says John Mayo, a licensed child therapist and deputy executive director of Success 4 Kids & Families, a nonprofit organization that provides family-focused mental health services in Hillsborough County.