School Refusal

Many children may be resistant to going to school once in a while, but school refusal refers to a persistent pattern of school avoidance, which seriously interferes with the child’s and the family’s life. Although oftentimes school refusal is associated with truancy, there are many reasons why children refuse school that are related to anxiety, including panic attacks, separation anxiety, social anxiety, various phobias, as well as worries about performance and grades. Thorough evaluation aimed at understanding the causes and patterns of school refusal is the first step in breaking the vicious cycle of school avoidance.