Children's Literature and Childhood Anxiety When most people hear the word anxiety, they imagine stressed-out adults struggling to balance the demands of life and all its problems. Unfortunately, anxiety is much more than that. It affects people of all ages, including young children. It is a recognized and treatable disorder that has many subsets. The most well-known type is generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). This can be caused not only by living in stressful situations, but also by an imbalance of mood hormones in the brain (Stein and Sareen 2061). There are many ways to combat the effects of GAD, but finding someone or something that relates to the patient's experiences and puts their emotions into perspective can be a big step toward managing the struggle and healing. healing of the disorder. Literature that deals with the experiences of someone suffering from an anxiety disorder like GAD can provide this type of healing, especially if it contains characters the reader can relate to. Unfortunately, there isn't much children's literature that addresses this important topic, even though many children suffer from anxiety. However, the children's book "There's a Bully in my Brain" by Kristin O'Rourke addresses the issue of childhood anxiety disorders from the child's perspective. This book gives children struggling with anxiety a relatable character who shares their experiences and offers advice on how to manage anxious feelings. Children who suffer from anxiety disorders will benefit from O'Rourke's book "There's a Bully in My Brain" because it will help them understand and define their mental disorder, they will realize that they are not the only ones suffering anxiety, and it will give them practical tips for managing their anxiety. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Anxiety can take many forms and be caused by many reasons. Some children experience anxiety because of a significant traumatic event in their past, such as abuse or neglect. This type of anxiety would be defined as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can be managed primarily through counseling. Symptoms include flashbacks of the traumatic event and panic attacks in situations that remind the child of the trauma (Turcek 1796). If children suffering from this type of trauma read works such as O'Rourke's "There's a Bully in My Brain," they might find significant healing in the relatable characters and their struggles. against anxiety. A second type of anxiety that has already been mentioned is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) caused by an imbalance in mood-controlling brain hormones, such as serotonin. Those who suffer from GAD often also have difficulty managing depression and anger. In fact, the child's brain reabsorbs the serotonin produced before it can distribute it to areas of the brain that control the child's moods and behaviors. In many cases, the child's doctor will prescribe a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) to prevent the brain from reuptaking serotonin too quickly. Normally, a counselor will work with children who take SSRIs to help them manage difficult emotions until their hormones are rebalanced. GAD can sometimes be passed down genetically, making anxiety a hereditary disorder. Symptoms include feelings of anxiety orpanic attacks without a specific origin or specific fear, anger without reason, and depression even when no sad event has occurred recently (Ellis and Hudson 153). O'Rourke's book can help those suffering from this invisible enemy understand the complex fears they suffer from by defining the symptoms. Phobias are a third major type of anxiety that children experience. There are two main categories of phobias, specific and complex. Specific phobias are normally caused by past traumatic events, just like PTSD. Complex phobias are normally caused by hormonal or genetic imbalances, much like GAD. Each type of phobia is treated using SSRIs, counseling, or both, depending on its cause. Unlike GAD, phobias cause very specific fears about objects or situations (Hamm 579). A fourth major type of anxiety experienced by children is social anxiety. It is the deep fear of being humiliated in social situations. It's not the same thing as shyness. This is a deep-seated anxiety caused by social interactions, especially in large groups. This can often manifest as physical symptoms such as a fast heart rate or nausea. It can also cause a child to withdraw from social interactions with peers, which can worsen depression and isolation. Social anxiety can stunt a child's social and mental development because children learn primarily from their peers from a young age (Seedat 195). When people begin to experience symptoms of an anxiety disorder, they often have difficulty understanding what it is and why. is happening. One of the main benefits of the book "There's a Bully in My Brain" is that it helps children understand and define the feelings of anxiety they experience. Anxiety is especially difficult for young children to understand because they have probably never experienced it before. O'Rourke uses the literary element of personification and defines anxiety as a "tyrant" in the brain of the main character, a young boy. She describes the bully as an uninvited guest who appears whenever the little boy tries a new activity or has fun (O'Rourke 1). This is an accurate description of the feelings of anxiety that children may experience when asked to try something new. But it also addresses the sad reality that children can experience anxiety while simply going about their daily lives. A child can just play and have fun, but anxiety can attack at any time and get in the way. This specifically reflects the symptoms of GAD, as it manifests itself in daily life without warning and without reason. If a child suffered from GAD, this page from "There's a Bully in My Brain" would help them define their feelings and express them to an adult who could help them seek treatment. O'Rourke doesn't just help children with GAD. define their emotions, but also those who suffer from other disorders such as phobias. The little boy in the story says that sometimes the bully in his brain makes him afraid that his school bus will have a flat tire and his parents will forget to pick him up from school (O'Rourke 3). This situational phobia can be either specific or complex depending on the character's past experiences, which remain unknown. Children who suffer from separation anxiety from their parents might also relate to this page in the book. The little boy says the bully also tells him to be afraid of thunderstorms and cool roller coasters (O'Rourke 5). This page from the book describes a specific object phobia. The childrenwho suffer from situational or object phobias will identify with these descriptions of anxiety and may in turn describe them to a concerned parent or counselor. The bully also tells the little boy that he must be afraid of the dark because of the monsters in his closet (O'Rourke 2). Although this may seem like a natural fear because most children go through a stage of fear of the dark, when it becomes a chronic fear it can turn into sleep anxiety (Cowie 140). Children who suffer from a persistent inability to sleep due to their fears may find comfort in understanding that their fears are just lies that the “bully brain” is telling them. The last specific anxiety disorder that “There is a bully in my brain” helps. children understand and define social anxiety. The main character says that "the bully" stops him from making friends because they might not like him, and that it stops him from applying for the baseball team because he doesn't like him. Maybe it's not good to play with (O'Rourke 4). Any child with social anxiety would relate to this aspect of the little boy's experience. This way, a parent or counselor can use "There's a Bully in My Brain" to identify a child's specific type of anxiety disorder and help explain to the child what it is and why it is. is so often afraid. Anxiety disorders will also benefit from the book “There is a Bully in My Brain” because they will learn that they are not the only ones who suffer from anxious feelings. Anxiety is an isolating disorder. This causes those who are suffering to push away those close to them out of fear that they themselves will not understand. This makes them feel alone, as if they are the only ones in the world who can feel what they feel (Klingler 42). Hearing the stories of others with anxiety disorders helps people who have difficulty coping with fear. For this reason, children's literature that tells the stories of anxious children is extremely helpful to the anxious children who read it. A child who reads "There's a Bully in My Brian" can identify with the little boy and the "bully" who resides in his head. O'Rourke's book can help children feel less isolated in their anxiety and realize that suffering from anxious feelings does not make them strange or different from many other children. One aspect of O'Rourke's book that sets it apart from other works about children with anxiety is that he gives his readers practical advice on how to manage their anxiety in the future. The first piece of advice O'Rourke gives his young readers for dealing with their mental "bullies" is to pay attention to the warning signs their body is giving them when an anxiety attack is brewing. She lists symptoms they may recognize, such as a faster heart rate, sweaty palms, crying, heavy breathing, "butterflies" in the stomach, and wanting to hide under the covers. She suggests taking long, slow breaths to control symptoms. To model this for children, she suggests her readers pretend they are smelling a pastry freshly baked and too hot to eat. She asks them to pretend to blow on the treat to cool it and to control their breathing. Finally, she leaves them with the final suggestion of thinking positive thoughts that help them stand up to their “bullies” (O’Rourke 7). This reader advice page is so interesting and important because O'Rourke not only helps children define their anxieties but also manage their feelings once they understand them. She is very aware of the level of cognitive development of her target audience.