Happy March! Throughout the month, we will be going through different topics found in our Student Mental Health Toolkit. Let’s talk a little about anxiety this week.

Everyone feels anxious, nervous, or scared sometimes. Anxiety is our body’s normal reaction to perceived danger or threat around us. Our body must have an internal alarm system to tell us when we need to prepare for danger and to start to prepare to respond to that danger. It motivates us to practice for our soccer game or to study for our exams.

Our first reaction to anxiety is often to avoid whatever thing we’re feeling anxious about. We feel immediate relief from anxiety when we avoid it, but in the long term, we feel more anxious. You might say, “Next time, I promise I’ll do it!” But next time, your body will remember how good it felt to avoid, and it will be that much more difficult to do the things you are anxious about. You’ll also miss out on the good that can come from things that we might be anxious about at first (like meeting new people, joining a new club, or learning a new skill).

Check out our Student Mental Health Toolkit to learn more about what anxiety is and to learn some strategies to calm your mind and body.

sites.google.com/bostonpublicschools.org/bls-mental-health-toolkit/i-feel-anxious