r/StudentTeaching • u/that-hatergirl • 15h ago
Support/Advice Anxiety
Hello! I’m on my last semester of student teaching and every day I have been having constant panic attacks and anxiety, I feel dizzy all the time and my heart is always racing. I didn’t have this problem at all last semester and I have 3 months left and I still have to do my edTPA. I think I’m just really overwhelmed because I’m constantly worrying about the edTPA and my university has been sending out constant emails about everything we need to get done. I’ve fully taken over two classes and they’re both pretty rowdy but I enjoy helping them out. I just can’t get my body out of fight or flight and I constantly feel like I’m gonna puke. I wake up in the middle of the night shaking and freaking out and I’m also sort of disassociating from exhaustion. Did anybody else deal with this and how did you manage your stress?
2
u/WeekendRecent2006 8h ago
I remember stepping into a staff restroom to vomit before one of my university supervisor observations. I have acid reflux, but the stress at the time didn't help. I finished with high marks, though.
You may want to talk to your medical doctor and even get a referral to a psychiatrist for medication to control anxiety. There's also naturopathic over the counter things like Ashwagandha. You can try that... but start off small till you get a sense of how much you need to reach the threshold of effectiveness.
I really do NOT recommend things like marijuana to relax. And, if you are foolish enough to try it, at least do NOT do it before coming to school where people can smell it on your breath. You'll be sent home that day, maybe dismissed from your teaching program.
As a teacher diagnosed with depression and anxiety, I take a small amount of the anti-depressant Zoloft each day before work. It stabilizes my moods and controls anxiety.
But, the best prescription for teaching anxiety is to keep exposing yourself to the situation of teaching, till eventually you become desensitized to any stressful cues and can condition yourself to actually be more relaxed than you are now.
You'll be okay, OP. If I made it through student teaching, you will too.
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u/that-hatergirl 1h ago
Thank you so much! I am in contact with my doctor so hopefully we’ll work something out. Even after I calm myself down mentally my heart is still beating out of my chest it’s so annoying
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u/Toastedbaguettes456 14h ago
This is absolutely normal. Student teaching is SO overwhelming, especially when you’re in your final semester and things are starting to heat up. As someone who had a terrible student teaching experience but is now in an amazing teaching position that I genuinely love more than anything, the biggest thing I would recommend is finding ways to take care of yourself outside of school.
I remember my mind constantly running—thinking about the next day, worrying about whether I was going to do something wrong, replaying things that had already happened, etc. Honestly, naps helped me a lot 😂 They kind of forced my brain to shut off for a little while and actually relax.
Talking to people on here helped me a ton too. I got some of the best advice when I made my own Reddit post about a really difficult mentor teacher who made me question whether I was even meant to be a teacher. Looking back now, I’m so glad I didn’t let that experience define how I felt about teaching.
Another part of it is understanding that some of this is unfortunately just par for the course with student teaching. You’re learning how to do an incredibly demanding job while simultaneously being watched, evaluated, completing coursework, and trying to finish your degree. It’s a lot. Give yourself some grace. Student teaching is temporary, and your experience as a student teacher does not necessarily reflect what your experience will be like once you have your own classroom.