Could be stress
01-21-2021, 07:35 AM
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I believe the tics could be a result of stress. We noticed my son had tics at the end of first grade that got progressively worse during second grade. It had started with facial movements but progressed to jaw movement and arm swings. When I took him to the doctor I expected something horrible was wrong with him, but she simply said to remove the stress and the tics would stop. My first thoughts were that second graders don't have stress and she had to be wrong. I thought and prayed on this. I decided going to school had to be his stressor. He was socially and academically immature and complained that he was being picked on. I don't believe he was being bullied, but was too immature to understand social situations. I didn't want to admit there was stress at home because I felt I had no control over that. It had to be school. Since I felt school was the stressor, I removed the stress by pulling my son from school and homeschooling him for all of third grade. It wasn't a popular decision, and his teacher even tried to talk me out of it. She didn't want me to undo what they had worked so hard to do up to that point. When he left school at the end of second grade he could barely read or write a sentence. When he returned to fourth grade he had already developed a love for reading chapter books and could write paragraphs. He had become an independent learner. For him, the year at home with me helped him grow as a student and gave him more independence. The tics had stopped and he never experienced them again.
I am not recommending homeschooling. I'm not saying school is this child's stressor. I'm just stating my case to show how removing the stress helped my son. He does experience anxiety (no tics) from time to time but recognizes it and it doesn't let it consume him. He does what he knows to take care of himself. He is an adult and very functional and most of all happy. He is the son I talk about that went to Japan, works as a computer analyst and has a family. A lot of kids and adults suffer with anxiety. Anxiety shows itself in many ways, but often with young children it is seen through tics. My personal opinion is that a lot of kids are feeling anxiety through this pandemic, whether they are worried about the pandemic or not. Life has changed so much for so many of us. Kids need to get outside to play. They need to experience social situations. They need a healthy diet with as little process food as possible. Kids need a regular sleep schedule with adequate sleep. We can all afford to strengthen relationships no matter how strong our relationships are. Every one of those factors affect anxiety. I wish I understood anxiety better when my son was experiencing tics. I didn't even understand anxiety was a chronic condition for some people.
NHK reported on the wearing of masks and how it affects young children. I don't know if that can be found on the internet. I wonder if mask wearing affects anxiety in children.
Can you talk to or recommend the parent contact the school counselor? There may be some strategies to help this student with anxiety while at school and maybe some strategies to try at home.
Mostly I just want to say, yes, the tics could be caused by stress and stress can be managed or removed, making the tics go away.
Last edited by twin2; 01-21-2021 at 07:44 AM..
Reason: edited to add something
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