School Phobia

Some children do not like school. So what else is new? But in Japan that familiar aversion has reached alarming proportions. About 50 000 unhappy youngsters a year (out of a total school-age population of 20 million) suffer what Japanese behavioral experts call school phobia. School phobia is distinguished from other common childhood and adolescent psychological and emotional disorders by the patient's reaction to, and fear of, the idea of going to school. Typically, it begins with fever, sweating, headaches, and diarrhea; it often progresses to complete physical inertia, depression, and even autism.

A doctor on a house call found a thirteen-year-old Tokyo boy who had not been to school. in more than a year. He lives in a darkened room, receiving his food through a slot under the door and lashing out violently at his parents if they came too close. Once the boy was placed in a psychiatric ward for treatment, he again became an open, seemingly healthy youngster. When he was sent home, however, his symptoms returned, and he was never able to go hack to school.

School phobia can be cured, usually with tranquilizers and psychotherapy. Rehabilitation takes about two years. Yet victims who are put in clinics or mental wards often prefer to stay there. Their day is filled with activities like knitting, painting, music, free time, and sports. Nurses try to create a familial environment in which the children can feel that they are taking a certain amount of responsibility for their lives and can find some sense of self-worth.

The causes of school phobia are not precisely known. In a few severe cases brain disorders have been diagnosed. A more common factor may be the overprotective Japanese mother who, some psychiatrists say, leaves her children ill-prepared to face the real world. Many researchers point to the unrelenting pressures for success faced by both children and adults in Japan, where stress-related disorders of all sorts are common. In addition, the Japanese educational system is one of the world's most rigid, suppressing a child's individual creative and analytical development. Says Dr. Hitoshi Ishikawa, head of the department of psychosomatic medicine at Tokyo University, "The problem won't be cured until Japanese society as a whole is cured of its deep-seated social ills."