How To Deal With Anxiety as a Teacher

Getting to the Root of Anxiety From Teaching

Anxiety rarely ignites in a vacuum. Usually, it’s a smoke signal from a fire burning nearby. For educators, sparks often fly from the never-ending pile of grading papers, administrative pressures, fear of judgment from administrators, parents, or students, or inescapable burnout at the end of a long school year.

If you’re dealing with anxiety as a teacher, you’re not overreacting, and you’re far from alone. A 2022 review found that 38% to 41% of teachers report clinically significant anxiety levels. Learning how to overcome teaching anxiety starts with recognizing what’s driving it. From there, you can build effective coping skills for anxiety.

Signs of Anxiety Teachers Shouldn’t Ignore

Anxiety from teaching doesn’t always announce itself loudly. Sometimes, it’s more of a whisper you have to tune into to hear. It might show up in subtle ways that are easy to dismiss as “just part of the job.” Maybe you feel your heart racing as you walk into the classroom at the start of the day, or find your patience with your students wearing thinner than usual. It might feel like a bad case of the “Sunday scaries” week after week, or a disquieted feeling in the evenings as you waffle between bouts of overthinking and avoidance.

Teacher anxiety can manifest as physical, emotional, and behavioral signs and symptoms, including:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Muscle tension
• Trouble sleeping
• Irritability
• Restlessness
• An unshakeable feeling of dread or despair
• Obsessing over every lesson
• Procrastinating grading
• Avoiding tough conversations with your students or colleagues

If you notice any of these or similar changes, know that these aren’t failures but rather signs that your nervous system is doing the best that it can. Even the most dedicated teachers aren’t immune to anxiety. In fact, they may be the most vulnerable.

Immediate Coping Strategies to Help With Teacher Anxiety

When anxiety hits, sometimes it helps just to know you have strategies that can help in the moment, without the need for an instant therapy session or weekend reset. Below, we’ll share a few grounding strategies that actually work and are designed for the reality of the teaching experience.

Breathing and grounding techniques

Research shows that regulating your breath is one of the fastest ways to remind your body it’s safe. If you’re new to breathing, start with a simple box breathing technique. Inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold at the bottom for four counts. Repeat this breathing exercise for anxiety a few times when you’re feeling overwhelmed, or preventatively before a stressful class period or parent meeting.

Another quick grounding tool is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. It works like this: name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. The idea is to shift your focus away from your internal dialogue and back into your physical body. By redirecting your attention back to the present moment, you leave less room for anxious thoughts to take hold.

Classroom-friendly stress relief

Even if the classroom is one of your biggest anxiety triggers, you don’t have to step out of the room to keep stress under wraps. Are there ways you can decorate your desk or classroom to be more calming? On particularly stressful days, you might even consider leading your class in a 60-second stretch or breathing exercise. That way, you and your students can both benefit while cultivating more emotional awareness in your classroom culture.

Time management tweaks

Maybe your anxiety isn’t stemming from one certain task but rather how much you’re trying to do at once. A new time management strategy can go a long way here. Start by dividing your daily or weekly to-do list into “must, should, and could” categories to prioritize realistically. If most of your time is spent grading papers, break that task into 20-minute sessions, then spend 5 to 10 minutes on other, smaller tasks in between.

Long-Term Strategies to Manage Anxiety as a Teacher

While quick fixes can help in between periods, learning how to overcome teaching anxiety takes more than just deep breaths and restructured to-do lists. If left unaddressed, it can get to the point of undermining your sense of purpose, creativity, and even your physical health.

Thankfully, there are proven strategies for creating sustainable calm and a stronger foundation for emotional resilience.

Set clear work–life boundaries

As a teacher, you know how important it is to set boundaries with your students. The same goes for setting boundaries for work-life balance. Designate a cut-off time each day when you stop checking emails or grading papers, even if your work isn’t done. It might sound selfish, but if you’re serious about tackling teacher anxiety, a healthy work-life balance is a necessary part of self-care for teachers.

Set realistic expectations for what you can accomplish within school hours and communicate those limits clearly when needed. By setting clear boundaries around overworking, you may help inspire your colleagues to follow suit.

Build a support network

If you’re used to being the only adult in the room, you may be more comfortable helping others than being the one who asks for help. However, even the most trusted teachers need support.

Start with one trusted colleague you can check in with honestly and openly. Be intentional about scheduling time to chat between periods or after the bell rings. Outside of school, lean on your personal relationships or consider exploring educator support groups. Whatever route you choose, the point is to let others show up for you, too.

Seek professional support

If anxiety is interfering with your sleep, focus, or joy in the classroom, it might be time to seek help from a mental health professional. Still, many teachers delay seeking therapy for anxiety due to guilt, stigma, or fear of appearing incapable. What advice would you give a student who was struggling with anxiety? You might remind them that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Therapists can offer new tools and perspectives to help you navigate the demands of anxiety and teaching, giving you space to recharge mentally and emotionally.

Release yourself from perfectionism

Don’t let yourself fall prey to the idea that being “good” means being endlessly patient, creative, and available. Being present—not perfect—is a better expectation. If you find yourself struggling with perfectionism, give yourself permission to let go of the need to be everything to everyone.

Gentler self-talk that’s rooted in flexibility and compassion might be a good place to start. Replace thoughts like “I have to get everything right” with “it’s okay to grow as I go.” If you’re struggling to offer yourself more grace, imagine what advice you’d give to a student who was struggling with the same experience.

Get Professional Support With Talkspace

Whether you’re in the midst of a hectic semester or trying to prevent back-to-school anxiety before the semester starts, you don’t have to navigate anxiety from teaching alone. Talkspace offers licensed therapists who can help you cope with the emotional weight of teaching, from stress to burnout and everything in between. With flexible and discreet options like video sessions and text-based support, therapy can fit into your life without adding to your workload.

With Talkspace, it’s easier to get the right care and support you need to show up as your best self, inside and outside the classroom. Start online anxiety treatment and step into every school day with a clearer mind today.