Managing Back to School Anxiety

The start of the school season can often be a stressful time for families, particularly when the student is starting at a new school or when the student has an anxiety disorder (Miller, 2026).

Anxiety is a common reaction to the start of school resuming, both for parents and children. In addition, it is important for parents to make sure that they do not give their child their own stress. However, there are ways to  help manage back-to-school anxiety and stress.

• One way to help handle this is to try to visit the school beforehand, especially if the child is concerned about knowing their way around (American Psychological Association [APA], 2024; Berman, 2023; Miller, 2026; Zapata, 2026). Walking around the school helps to familiarize the child with the building, and to map out routes to classes before school starts. In addition, it can help them meet their teachers/professors early, which can help to assuage any anxiety they might have over their instructors for the new year.
  
• Another way to manage this is to start establishing the routine again before school starts (APA, 2024; Berman, 2023). Part of this involves making sure that the child falls asleep at the right time even before classes begin so that they can avoid being exhausted from staying up too late the night before classes start. It is also helpful to gather everything necessary for the first day, such as books and writing supplies, the night before. This helps to avoid accidentally forgetting something due to nerves the morning of, as well as helps to relieve stress knowing that much of the preparation was finished early. Making sure that your child is aware of everything they need to have ready ahead of time helps to ease the panic of the first day.
  
• An extremely important part of mitigating back-to-school anxiety is simply talking to your child and acknowledging their fears (APA, 2024; Berman, 2023). In fact, sometimes just talking about their concerns can help children feel better (Zapata, 2026). While the child’s concerns might seem trivial to an adult, it is important to remember that their fears are very real to them. An adult dismissing their fears “will cause more anxiety and possibly deter kids from expressing themselves comfortably” (Berman, 2023). If a child does not feel that they can trust their parental figure to take their concerns seriously, they might stop sharing them entirely (Life Counseling Institute, 2025). Instead, what a parent should do is discuss what the child is afraid of, and try to reassure them and discuss reasonable ways to help ease the child’s fear. Planning and rehearsing how the child can react to situations causing them anxiety can help them feel more prepared (Berman, 2023).
  
• Related to planning for future events is the way that visualization can help reduce back-to-school anxiety (Zapata, 2023). Positive visualization, which refers to the concept of mentally capturing certain events happening, can help children and teens feel more prepared (PsychCentral, 2022). In addition, it has been shown to be effective for other kinds of anxiety (Star, 2026).
  
• Another helpful way to handle it is through practicing calming activities (Zapata, 2026). Breathing exercises are particularly helpful for calming down (Leggett, 2023), as they help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (Klatt, 2022).
  
• In addition, spending time outdoors is also good for anxiety (Zapata, 2026), especially when combined with exercise. Exercise has been proven to help reduce anxiety (Joseph, 2026), even though it is not a cure. Even without exercise,  merely being out in nature can help to alleviate stress and anxiety (American Heart Association, 2024). Making sure that your child spends time outdoors before school starts, rather than spending all their time in the house, can help relax them.
  
  

References
American Heart Association. (2024, March 21). Spend time in nature to reduce stress and anxiety. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/spend-time-in-nature-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety
American Psychological Association. (2024, August 19). Back-to-school can be a stressful time. How to help your kids transition. https://www.apa.org/topics/children/school-anxiety
Berman, G. (2023, August 7). 7 tips for addressing back-to-school anxiety. Anxiety and Depression Association of America. https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/7-tips-addressing-back-school-anxiety
Joseph, A. (2026, March 21). Does physical activity reduce anxiety. MyPsychotherapy. https://mypsychotherapy.org/blog/does-physical-activity-reduce-anxiety/
Klatt, M. (2022, January 27). How breathing exercises can calm anxiety effectively. The Ohio State University. https://health.osu.edu/wellness/integrative-healing/how-breathing-exercises-can-calm-anxiety-effectively
Leggett, H. (2023, February 9). 'Cyclic sighing' can help breathe away anxiety. Stanford Medicine. https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2023/02/cyclic-sighing-can-help-breathe-away-anxiety.html
Life Counseling Institute. (2025, May 7). How invalidation impacts children and teens. https://lifecounselinginstitute.com/how-invalidation-impacts-children-and-teens/
Miller, C. (2026, June 24). Back-to-school anxiety. Retrieved August 1, 2026, from https://childmind.org/article/back-school-anxiety/
PsychCentral. (2022, August 23). How to use positive visualization in everyday life. https://psychcentral.com/lib/imagery-in-everyday-life
Star, K. (2026, February 20). Using visualization to reduce anxiety symptoms. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/visualization-for-relaxation-2584112
Zapata, K. (2026, July 12). 7 expert-backed ways to ease your child’s back-to-school anxiety. Parents. https://www.parents.com/ways-to-ease-back-to-school-anxiety-12016252