Q Why does back-to-school syndrome happen? My child is perfectly fine during the break, but as soon as school starts, they get stomachaches and headaches.
A When the sleep and daily rhythm disrupted during the break collides with the sudden environmental change at the start of the term, the autonomic nervous system and digestive system react to stress and manifest as physical symptoms. Anxiety about an unfamiliar class, teacher, and peer relationships is expressed through the body.
Detailed Answer
Back-to-school syndrome is an adjustment reaction in which children and adolescents experience a concentrated cluster of headaches, abdominal pain, school refusal, sleep disturbances, and anxiety in the 2-4 weeks around the start of a new term. When sleep timing has shifted and daily rhythms have become irregular during the break, a sudden earlier wake-up time, an unfamiliar classroom environment, and new peer relationships overlap and place the autonomic nervous system in a state of overload. Because the gastrointestinal tract is strongly influenced by the autonomic nervous system, abdominal pain and loss of appetite stand out in particular.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
At Dongjedang, we view back-to-school syndrome as a state in which a child whose digestive energy is inherently weak experiences stress from the environmental change at the start of term, which causes stagnation of liver energy and further suppresses spleen-stomach function. The weaker a child's digestive function, the stronger the tendency for emotional tension to translate directly into digestive symptoms. We build prescriptions tailored to the child's constitution and symptom pattern, based on strengthening the spleen, soothing the liver, and calming the mind.
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