# @juleswaller_ on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DczfIW5E0qW
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70071300-juleswaller-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/b4f1ac58df.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-03T00:07:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Julie Waller (Jules) | School Refusal Support (@juleswaller_) — https://gondola.cc/juleswaller_

## Caption

My child couldn’t explain any of this while we were living it. 

She didn’t have the words – she just had the symptoms, and the shutdowns, and the “I’m not going” that I kept hearing as defiance.

It was only later, once her body settled and she could finally talk about it, that I understood what those mornings had actually been: not a battle of wills, but a body in full alarm trying to protect her from a threat that wasn’t really there.

If you’ve got a child like this right now: they’re not manipulating you. 

They’re drowning in something they can’t name. 
And the way out isn’t more pressure – it’s helping their body believe it’s safe, before you ask it to do anything hard.

🌸 Save this for the next morning it all kicks off.

🍒 Send it to someone who keeps being told to “just be firmer.”

💕 FOLLOW juleswaller_ for the body-first way through school refusal.

- Jules ❤️

#schoolrefusal #schoolanxiety #schoolstress #teenmentalhealth #childrensmentalhealth

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 144
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 6

## Tags

schoolrefusal, schoolanxiety, schoolstress, teenmentalhealth, childrensmentalhealth

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