End-of-Summer Anxiety: What Helps as September Gets Closer
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
The calendar still says summer. The evenings are still warm. There are lake days, gardens, holidays, and some time left before September really begins.
But somewhere in August, a lot of us start to feel the change coming.
Maybe you’re lying awake already running through September’s schedule. Maybe the first school email lands and suddenly your mind is three weeks ahead. Maybe your child is more irritable, having trouble settling at night, or reacting strongly to things that didn’t seem like a big deal a few weeks ago.
Sometimes we feel a transition before we’re actually in it.
And the end of summer can bring more anxiety than we expect.
Why can the end of summer feel unsettling?
Even when we’re looking forward to what comes next, change can stir things up.
There’s a name for some of what happens here: anticipatory anxiety. We start thinking about what is coming — earlier mornings, fuller calendars, school, work, activities, social pressures, less downtime — before any of it has actually started.
Our minds begin preparing.
We make lists. Think ahead. Run through possible problems. Try to get organized.
A little preparation can be useful. But sometimes we find ourselves spending a lot of August mentally living in September.
We can be looking forward to September and still feel unsettled by the change. Those two things can exist at the same time.
You might notice:
thinking ahead more than usual
feeling restless or more easily irritated
trouble settling or sleeping
tension in your chest, jaw, shoulders, or stomach
wanting to get everything organized right now
feeling sad that summer is ending
a sense of worry that is hard to connect to one particular thing
Sometimes the simplest explanation is also the most useful:
There’s a transition coming, and I’m feeling it.
It doesn’t always look like “anxiety”
This is especially important with kids and teens.
Children don’t always tell us, “I’m worried about going back to school.”
What they’re feeling often shows up through behaviour before they have the words for it.
You might notice more irritability, clinginess, trouble falling asleep, avoiding conversations about school, stomach aches, needing more reassurance, or bigger reactions to smaller frustrations.
Teens can be harder to read.
They may look completely unconcerned while thinking about friendships, teachers, schoolwork, sports, social expectations, or whether this year will be different from the last one.
When behaviour starts to shift toward the end of summer, it can help to get curious about what might be underneath it.
You might simply say:
“School is getting closer. I wonder if you’ve been thinking about that at all.”
Then give them some room.
They may talk. They may shrug. They may tell you there’s nothing going on.
You don’t have to pull the feelings out of them. Letting them know there is space to talk can make it easier for them to come to you when they’re ready.
What can help with the transition?
We don’t necessarily need to make the anxiety disappear.
Often, it helps more to make the transition feel a little smaller and more manageable.
1. Name what’s happening
Sometimes naming the transition helps us stop treating the feeling like a problem we should immediately fix.
For yourself, that might be:
“I’m noticing that September is on my mind a lot.”
With a child:
“School is getting closer. You seem like you’ve had a lot going on lately.”
You don’t need the perfect words. Just noticing together can open the door.
2. Pay attention to what your body is doing too
Anxiety isn’t only thoughts.
You might notice a tight chest, a busy stomach, clenched jaw, shallow breathing, or shoulders sitting higher than usual.
Instead of immediately trying to change it, notice it.
Rest a hand where you feel the tension. Let your exhale slow a little. Put your feet on the floor. Step outside for a few minutes.
Sometimes a small physical pause helps bring us back to what is happening now instead of everything we’re anticipating.
And words aren’t always the easiest way into what we’re feeling.
For kids, drawing, playing, moving, building, or making something can offer another way to work through a transition. Adults may notice the same thing — taking a walk, creating something, or paying attention to what is happening in the body can sometimes help us understand an experience differently than thinking about it does.
3. Make the transition smaller
September can feel enormous when we mentally jump from a quiet August afternoon straight into the busiest week of fall.
Bring it back to what is actually happening now.
What needs to happen this week?
What can wait?
What would make the transition a little easier?
For a family, that might mean gradually moving bedtime earlier, bringing back one morning routine, having one conversation about what a child is wondering about, or looking together at what the first week will look like.
For an adult, it might mean protecting one evening from commitments, getting to bed a little earlier, or deciding that not everything needs to restart in September.
You don’t need to prepare for the whole fall at once.
4. Leave some room for connection
It’s easy for the weeks before school to become entirely about logistics.
Supplies. Clothes. Transportation. Lunches. Activities. Forms.
Those things need to happen, but connection matters too.
Five unhurried minutes at bedtime. A walk after supper. Sitting together without trying to solve anything. Asking what someone is looking forward to — and what they aren’t.
Small moments of connection can make change easier to move through.
When might some extra support help?
Some anxiety around a transition is common and may ease once the new routine gets underway.
But it may be worth reaching out if anxiety is starting to interfere with everyday life.
That could include:
ongoing difficulty sleeping or eating
regularly avoiding school or activities
distress that continues to increase
frequent physical complaints connected to worry
emotions or reactions that are becoming difficult to manage
old experiences or memories beginning to show up again
feeling like what you’re carrying is becoming hard to manage on your own
You don’t have to wait until things reach a crisis point before getting support.
There’s still some summer left
September will come soon enough.
For now, you don’t need to have the whole fall organized. Your child doesn’t need to be completely ready. And you don’t need to sort out every feeling that comes with the change.
Notice what is showing up.
Take the next step rather than all of them.
And leave a little room for the summer that is still here.
At Valley Art Therapy, we work with kids, teens, and adults experiencing anxiety, overwhelm, trauma responses, and emotional challenges. Depending on the person and what fits, therapy may include counselling, art therapy, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, play, movement, and other ways of working that go beyond talking alone.
Not sure where to begin? Our Care Coordinator can help you talk through what you’re looking for and find a therapist who may be the right fit.
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