A LETTER TO KIDS WITH ANXIETY PROBLEMS Dear Young Reader: This book is about being scared of being scared. You probably noticed that some kids are scared more than other kids are. Sometimes kids are scared even when most kids see nothing to be afraid of. Some people like to be scared, for example, when they ride a roller coaster at an amusement park or listen to a ghost story on Halloween. Of course, everyone is scared of something sometime. This is good! Being scared helps us when we are really in danger. Our bodies react quickly when we're afraid so that we can run fast to get away from things that scare us. Fear helps us get to someone who can help us. But what about a kid who is scared of dogs and won't go to his friend's house because the friend has a dog? Or a kid who is too scared to even walk outside, because there might be a dog around? Or someone who stays up for hours past her bedtime because she is scared something bad will happen to her parents during the night? Kids are afraid of what might happen to them and to their parents. When kids are scared, they want their parents to help them feel safe. Being scared can feel extra scary when other people don't understand why you're scared! Sometimes it's hard to explain why you do things to keep yourself from being scared. Sometimes kids stay away from things that scare them or have to do things certain odd ways to make themselves feel safe. Being scared of being scared is called "anxiety." Having anxiety means that you worry about things that most kids don't worry about. We think of anxiety as being like an imaginary Dragon in your head. The Dragon seems to be really scary. It can make you feel terribly afraid even when other kids are not upset. You should know that it's OK to feel scared. This doesn't make you a bad person. Feeling scared doesn't have to limit what you do with your life. You can do everything you want to do, even if you feel scared. Excerpted from The Anxiety Cure for Kids: A Guide for Parents and Children by Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, Robert L. DuPont, Caroline M. DuPont All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
