Name & tame your anxiety : a kid's guide

Anxiety in kids is on the rise: 4.4 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 have diagnosed anxiety disorders, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And even more kids experience some level of anxiety in their daily lives. In kid-friendly language, award-winning Name and Tame Your Anxiety explains what anxiety is, how it works, and how to manage it.

Written by a parent whose child has anxiety and vetted by Myles L. Cooley, Ph.D., author of A Practical Guide to Mental Health & Learning Disorders for Every Educator and an expert in the field with more than forty years of experience, Name and Tame Your Anxiety provides practical strategies to help kids manage anxiety, including:

Write down your schedule Make anxiety into something funny Make a calming toolkit Deep breathing Name the things around you

This book helps kids understand what is happening in their brains and shows how learning to manage anxiety can help them do the things in life they need and want to do--by practicing anxiety-taming strategies, going to therapy, and/or taking medication. It includes information about how kids can self-advocate for what they need to manage anxiety as well as how to interpret some of the common things adults say to kids about anxiety.

Name and Tame Your Anxiety helps kids better understand and improve their mental health. It also includes self-check and planning exercises, quotes from real kids, and a glossary of terms about anxiety.

Author Notes

Summer Batte has worked as a writer and editor for more than 16 years.

For the past four years, much of her work has been focused on research-based advice stories. She came to appreciate her undergraduate studies in psychology at Stanford University more than ever when she experienced peripartum depression and anxiety, and a few years later, learned she was parenting a child with anxiety.

For nearly 10 years, she has researched anxiety and learning disorders to ensure her daughter got the education and life she deserved, and also to help explain anxiety, therapy, and medication in a way that respected and trusted her very bright child's ability to understand complex concepts. She homeschooled her daughter for three years, which led to even more research into learning styles, teaching methods, and the American education system. It also meant she had to relearn a lot of math.

When she has downtime, Summer likes being with her family, reading, watching great TV, trying to perfect chocolate chip banana bread, and knitting (which her daughter made her learn).

She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A Note to Kids	p. 1
Part 1 Understanding Anxiety
Chapter 1 What Is Anxiety?	p. 6
How Anxiety Feels	p. 7
Can Other People Tell That You Are Feeling Anxiety?	p. 10
Words That Mean Anxiety	p. 12
When Anxiety Starts to Get in the Way	p. 13
What Anxiety Is and Is Not	p. 16
Chapter 2 What Causes Anxiety	p. 18
When People Feel Anxiety	p. 21
Heredity	p. 22
When Anxiety Is Good	p. 24
When Anxiety Is a Problem	p. 24
What's Happening in Your Brain	p. 26
How the Parts of the Brain Work Together	p. 28
Chapter 3 Types of Anxiety	p. 33
Common Types of Anxiety	p. 34
Part 2 Taming Anxiety
Chapter 4 How to Stop Anxiety from Being in Charge	p. 42
How a Little Healthy Fear Can Turn into a Big Anxiety	p. 43
Times Anxiety Likes to Take Control	p. 45
Benefits of Learning to Manage Anxiety	p. 47
Keeping Your Brain and Body Healthy	p. 48
What You Can Do When You Feel Anxiety	p. 60
How to Plan for Anxiety	p. 66
Chapter 5 Therapy	p. 70
Who Are Therapists?	p. 71
What Happens in the Therapist's Office?	p. 73
What Happens in Therapy?	p. 77
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)	p. 79
How Long Will I Go to Therapy?	p. 80
Chapter 6 How Anxiety Works in Your Brain (and How Medication Can Help)	p. 82
How Brain Messages Get Delivered	p. 83
How to Make Serotonin	p. 84
Medication for Anxiety	p. 86
How SSRIs Work	p. 87
What Happens When You Take an SSRI	p. 89
What Does NOT Happen When You Take an SSRI	p. 90
What It Feels Like to Take Anxiety Medication	p. 91
Side Effects of Anxiety Medications	p. 92
How Long to Take Anxiety Medication	p. 92
Part 3 Talking About Anxiety
Chapter 7 Self-Advocacy	p. 96
When to Self-Advocate	p. 98
How to Self-Advocate	p. 100
Who (and How Much) to Tell About Your Anxiety	p. 106
Translating Things Grown-Ups Say	p. 108
When to Listen to Your Gut (Even If You've Been Told Your Gut Overreacts)	p. 112
Chapter 8 Before You Go	p. 116
Conditions That Often Coexist with Anxiety	p. 116
What It Feels Like to Be Less Worried	p. 118
Describing Yourself	p. 119
The End	p. 120
A Note to Adults	p. 121
Glossary	p. 123
Resources	p. 126
Bibliography	p. 130
Index	p. 134
About the Author	p. 137

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