Unreal.

By Amanda Rosati

While on a short vacation in late September, I went apple picking.  It was a very happy atmosphere on the tractor that brought us to the orchard, and all of the kids and parents were excited and smiling.  As I looked around at everyone, I heard a man behind me begin to speak in a voice that was far less jubilant than the voices of the rest, and he was talking about the anxiety that kids get when faced with certain school tasks, like taking tests or giving presentations.  He was loudly telling the other parents near him that anxiety about these types of activities are “not real” and that “kids say they have anxiety and things like that because they simply do not want to take tests.”  The man even went on to say, in a matter-of-fact tone, that he believed that children claimed they had anxiety about doing well in school because they didn’t want to be held accountable for not doing well.

To say that I was appalled is an understatement.

I was not necessarily appalled because I’ve studied anxiety disorders and know just how real they are.  I was also not necessarily appalled because I myself struggle with social anxiety disorder.  Rather I was appalled because I hadn’t heard someone deny, in person, the existence of someone else’s struggle.  I have studied and continue to study the public stigma surrounding anxiety disorders and mental illnesses, and I have explored how profound of an impact this stigma has on so many people around the world—but I had never heard a person right near me say that a mental disorder is just an excuse to slack off in school.  I see the public stigma surrounding mental illness often on TV and in academic journals, but I had never before heard a person who was sitting a few feet away from me say such a thing.  He was even in front of children while talking badly about them and essentially calling them lazy liars.

This man did not understand or believe that a student’s social anxiety disorder can be so severe that she might not go to any of her classes, even if it means losing a big chunk of her grade because of her total lack of participation or attendance (Russell & Topham, 2012).  He did not think that a student could be so nervous before a class presentation that the student would feel ill or dizzy and have difficulty sleeping for nights beforehand (Russell & Topham, 2012).  This man never considered that a student who diligently did all of his or her homework and studied for hours could suddenly freeze up when asked a question in class, instantly forgetting all of the information and therefore being unable to respond (Russell & Topham, 2012).

Based on what I heard from him on the way to the orchard, this man perceived every student to have the same capacity to perform in school and the same base level of self-esteem and self-confidence.  In his mind, every kid in school feels fine about presenting projects, taking tests, and answering questions—and if they say that they are scared to do any of these things, they just don’t want to do what they are supposed to do.  This man has unfortunately provided a clear example of one type of stigma surrounding mental illness; I have previously explored the stigma that claims people with mental disorders are violent, but here we see the stigma contributing to the idea that mental disorders are fake.  And just like people fear getting treatment for their mental illness because they fear the thought of others perceiving them as violent, people also fear getting treatment for their mental illness because they fear they won’t be taken seriously.  In the case of this example concerning the manifestation of social anxiety effects on school performance, children can’t learn to deal with these difficulties if they hear others saying their hardships aren’t real.  Would this man still feel the same if it was his child having trouble doing presentations and taking tests in school?

References

Russell, G., & Topham, P. (2012). The impact of social anxiety on student learning and well-being in higher education. Journal of Mental Health, 21(4), 375-385.