开学季 | “学校恐惧症” 了解一下?

本周，各地大中小学陆续开学。有些同学因为要见到一个假期没有见的同学好友而兴奋，而有些同学则因为对上学这件事充满焦虑而不愿回到学校。

上海儿童医学中心的章依文医师对澎湃新闻表示，在上一个学期结束、下一个学期开始之前，有很多孩子都有“拒绝上学症”。

“学校恐惧症”（school phobia），也称为“拒绝上学症”（school refusal disorder），指一些儿童和青少年对学校产生恐惧和厌恶心理，不愿回到学校。

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▲开学恐惧症

英文定义为：School phobia, school avoidance and school refusal are terms that describe an anxiety disorder in children who have an irrational, persistent fear of going to school. Their behavior is different from children who are truant[逃学者] and express no apprehension[忧虑；担心] about missing school. Children who have school avoidance want to be in close contact with their parent or caregiver, whereas truants do not. School phobic[厌恶的；恐惧的] children are often insecure, sensitive, and do not know how to cope with their emotions. They appear anxious and may become physically ill at the thought of attending school.

“学校恐惧症”表现出来的症状有：头疼（headache）、恶心（nausea）、胃疼（stomachache）等。

Symptoms of school phobia are:

• Frequent stomachaches and other physical complaints[身体不适] such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, or headaches[恶心；呕吐；腹泻；乏力] that cannot be attributed to a physical ailment[小病].

• Clinginess[黏人], tantrums[发怒], and/or panic when required to separate from a parent or caregiver.

• Fear of the dark or being in a room alone.

• Trouble going to sleep and/or having nightmares.

• Exaggerated fears of animals, monsters, school, etc.

• Constant thoughts concerning the safety of self or others.

  
  

学校恐惧症多发于几个年龄段。5-7岁为第一高峰期。这一阶段可能与分离焦虑（separation anxiety）相关；11-12岁为第二高峰期，可能与学习压力（school pressure）逐渐加重，难以适应环境，以及与老师、同学间的人际冲突（interpersonal conflicts）有关；14-15岁为第三个高峰期，这可能与学生进入青春期身心发展不平衡（unbalanced physical and mental development）、自我意识冲突等因素有关。

另外，毕业班的学生面临升学的关键学期，沉重的学习任务以及自身和家长的过高期望（overexpectation）、渴望成功但又担心失败的心理（the mentality of longing for success while worrying about failure）都让孩子们深感压力巨大。

CGTN有一篇报道就是讲的学校恐惧症对儿童精神健康的影响

School phobia underscores mental health of Chinese children

For some, school oscillates[摇摆不定；波动] between mind-numbing[令人头脑发木的; 令人难以想清楚的] boredom and awkward encounters – in short, a place to be avoided. With the new semester starting soon after Spring Festival ends in China, it seems that this reluctance is playing out[1] for many students.

[1]play out

1) 结束，完结：

The long struggle between the strikers and thier employers is ont yet played out.

罢工者与雇主之间的这场长期斗争尚未结束。

2) 减少；逐渐减弱(消失)：

When their initial lure had played out, the pioneers of the West found other attractions to induce them to stay on.

这些西部拓荒者的最初的诱惑力逐渐消失之后，他们又转而寻找别的兴趣诱使他们继续留下。

Don’t make me go there

After the end of a semester and before the next, there are a good number of children with “school refusal disorder,” Dr Zhang Yiwen of Shanghai Children’s Medical Center told The Paper.

Children with the disorder fear and may even detest school, often showing physical symptoms such as headache, nausea and stomachache. A 12-year-old boy in central China sparked online debate back in 2014 when he fainted on a bus on the first day of the school year. He was diagnosed with the disorder after his mother took him to the hospital.

Sometimes, symptoms of anxiety will disappear in as quickly as a day when a child stays home from school.

The condition has been recognized since the 1960s, but skeptics say students who don’t want to go to school are simply truants. However, young people with the disorder are “typically well behaved,” while truants skip school because they want to engage in delinquent[2] behavior, says Nigel Blagg, a psychologist who has written a book on the subject, in an interview with the Guardian.

[2]delinquent可以作可数名词表示“违法的人〔尤指青少年〕；不良青少年；少年犯”；也可以作形容词表示“违法的，不正当的〔尤指青少年〕”，英文解释为“behaving in a way that is illegal or that society does not approve of”，如“delinquent girls/boys/children/teenagers”.

作形容词还可以表示“〔债务、账目等〕到期未付的”，英文解释为“a delinquent debt, account etc has not been paid on time”，如“the recovery of delinquent loans”表示“逾期贷款的追回”。

Is “school phobia” real?

Some think that the back-to-school blues does not warrant a diagnosis, and having children think they have a disease when it’s just anxiety can be detrimental.

Although school refusal is not listed as a disorder in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)[3], which mental health professionals use to diagnose patients, it is sometimes considered a result of separation anxiety or some other related disorder.

[3]精神疾病诊断与统计手册。《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》由美国精神医学学会出版，是一本在美国与其他国家中最常使用来诊断精神疾病的指导手册。

Professor Wang Guanghai, a child developmental psychologist, told The Paper that school pressure isn’t the only cause, as stress factors from family or school can also trigger symptoms. Overbearing[专横的] parents or a strict classroom environment can all play roles, he said.

How to deal with it

Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health suggests that parents should first take children with the suspected disorder to a primary care doctor to rule out other medical problems. They should then outline a back-to-school plan and review it with their child to help them anticipate what will happen. Other tips include enforcing a daily routine and remaining assertive as a parent so children won’t be able to negotiate going back to school.

Mental health of children in China

Although China had a late start in psychological outreach, it has made progress. The country passed its first mental health law in 2012, part of which outlines the need for schools to have mental health education and counselors.

Understanding mental disorders is difficult in any country, much less one that is as populous and diverse as China. However, studies published in 2015 show that the prevalence of children with mental disorders in many Chinese cities is on the rise, and some estimates even suggest that close to 20 percent of Chinese children have psychological issues.

The studies' co-authors Zheng Yi and Zheng Xixi said this can be especially daunting[4] in Chinese culture as people often turn to relatives and other non-professionals for help. They also note that in a survey of Chinese and American teachers, Chinese participants were more likely to think that ADHD[5] was due to poor parenting or lack of effort from the child. In essence, for some, particular mental health problems would go away if one just had the will to try.  

[4]daunt: frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident 使人气馁的，吓人的

The trip seemed rather daunting for a young girl.

这次旅行对一个年轻姑娘来说有点吓人。

He’s got the daunting task of following in Ferguson’s footsteps.

他面临继承弗格森事业的艰巨任务。

the daunting prospect of asking for a loan

令人望而却步的贷款申请事宜

[5]ADHD: the abbreviation of 缩写= attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder 注意缺陷障碍（伴多动）; 注意力缺陷多动症

Whether a child feigns[6] sickness or is actually suffering from debilitating[7] anxiety, the mental health of children is becoming more important as researchers learn more about the psychological nuances[ (声音、感觉、外貌或意义等方面的) 细微差别] of youth.

[6]feign: to pretend to have a particular feeling or to be ill, asleep etc 假装〔有某种感情〕；装〔病、睡等〕

Feigning a headache, I went upstairs to my room.

我假装头痛，上楼到自己房间去了。

[7]debilitate 

1) V-T If you are debilitated by something such as an illness, it causes your body or mind to become gradually weaker. 虚弱

Stewart took over yesterday when Russell was debilitated by a stomach virus. 

昨天因拉塞尔患有肠炎身体变得虚弱，斯图尔特已经接管了他的工作。

2) V-T To debilitate an organization, society, or government means to gradually make it weaker. 逐步削弱

...their efforts to debilitate the political will of the Western alliance. 

... 他们努力去逐步削弱西方国家联盟的政治意愿。

1) ADJ

...a debilitating illness. 

...一种使人慢慢衰竭的疾病。

2) ADJ

...years of debilitating economic crisis. 

... 多年逐步衰弱的经济危机。

中文来源：中国日报英语点津

英文来源：CGTN

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▲School Refusal