Kids often come home from school and burst into tears or start yelling and slamming doors for no reason. This could be due to after-school restraint collapse, a term coined by counselor and parenting educator Andrea Loewen Nair. It describes kids falling apart after school because they can’t hold in their emotions anymore.

What is After-School Restraint Collapse?

After-school restraint collapse can happen to any child, but it’s especially common in kids with ADHD, autism, or both, who struggle with self-regulation. Kids face many demands at school beyond academics, and they may be able to keep their stress and emotions in check while at school. However, when they get home, they lose that self-control and experience after-school restraint collapse.

Restraint collapse usually happens where kids feel safest, often at home with people who support and understand them. The ability to manage emotions develops over time, and with most kids, the older they get, the better they are at self-regulating. However, age and maturity aren’t the only factors in why kids fall apart after school. Neurodivergence can also play a part.

Strategies to Manage Restraint Collapse

Understood shares strategies to limit outbursts, anger, and bad moods of restraint collapse. These include offering physical soothing, providing a snack, not asking about negatives first, speaking calmly, comforting a crying child, turning away from yelling, and discussing the episode later.

Parents can also plan for decompression time right when kids get home, addressing hunger, tiredness, and the need to share or connect about their day before making demands like homework or chores. By understanding and addressing after-school restraint collapse, parents can help their kids manage their emotions and reduce outbursts.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.