What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety (What-to-Do Guides for Kids Series)

My eldest (11) daughter is struggling ALOT with transition to secondary school. An anxious temperament, combined with the craziness of completing year 6 in 2020 lockdown has meant that many of the usual rights of passage didn't happen. Daily (particularly on Monday) she struggles with mornings, missing us, feels sick, cries, and all of the usual anxious responses. It's never based on clear and present worries, but as someone with anxieties myself, that's not important. The response is the thing, not the source. So how does this book approach things. Well at first sight it comes across as a bit baby-ish. A4 size and large text. But as soon as you open it up it becomes clear that it's going to be all ok. We worked through the book over a few evenings, reading together at bedtime. The first section covers how simple basic concerns and worries can turn into all consuming anxiety. It then moves onto accepting the position, and how to spot how the anxiety is based. Finally we get some simple, easy to understand techniques and processes to help alleviate, manage, and ultimately shrivel the anxiety back down to a sensible and more logical scale. The book itself is pitched at a great level for us. I treated it more as a guided conversation, with discussions between my daughter and I on topics. there was room on specific pages to write down answers to questions, but I felt the process to be more fluid when discussed. So has it been successful? Well yes, but I didn't expect overnight instant results. We are getting better every day, with time being a wonderful tool to help. What's important is that the reactions are more controlled, not as emotionally driven, and also more limited in intensity and duration. A few weeks ago they all rolled into one panic. Now we can get through breakfast and out of the door without too much fuss. And there's been no crying at school for a long time now. Importantly the book doesn't validate or encourage anxiety, it simply acknowledges its existence and provides some lovely family friendly metaphors and techniques to help.

Excellent book that helps kids tackle worry - not just telling them " there there it will be alright" .... this book actually starts off slowly and continues at a very good pace that allows children of different ages and their parent/guardians to absorb the information and really see how worries can grow too big to handle and then it continues by telling the reader how to combat worry, how to handle it in a very manageable way and what to do when they feel tense or sick with worry. It gives a short list of reminders on how to handle worry - easy for kids to hang in their rooms. It involves the children in drawing pictures and shows them how they can actually make worries bigger and how they can make them smaller and this helps kids to feel like they have a hand in how they cope with worry and helps them feel in control. Really awesome book - I don't want to tell you anymore as I will spoil it for you !! I have lent this book to my three friends and they loved it and bought their own and their 6 children have been helped and their parents are relieved and now I am buying it for my sister in law for her 3 kids. This book helped my friends kids that are aged between 6 and 14 years - I cannot stress how important this book is for helping kids and their minders recognise, handle and cope with worry and learn how to avoid it and actually help themselves feel empowered not weighed down with worry. I love this book, every child should have one, kids worry about the most ridiculous things but sometimes the smallest worry can cripple a child. For children with big genuine worries, it tells them how to analyse them and see how they can actively manage that worry and even banish them. It also helps parents/guardians that are harassed by kids that worry a lot and ask questions all day long about their worries. Brilliant book, well worth the money. I sat and did the whole book in 3 hours with my two kids aged 8 and 10 as they don't really have any major worries but I wanted them to have coping mechanisms in place for when they are teenagers facing peer pressure and stress. We review the 'how not to worry' methods from time to time and they are happy, stress free kids : ) The author recommends doing one section at a time and waiting a few days for that to be absorbed and then do the next section/chapter but my kids were really excited and 'into it' that they didn't want to stop. Get this book, you will be glad you did, I wish I'd had one when I was a nipper. I will be keeping this book for my grandchildren in case it goes out of print !! But I am sure it will still be in print 30 years from now, it's that good.

We bought this for our son who is 8yrs old and we have been so pleased with the results. He had anxieties that were starting to get out of hand; as many parents will know it starts with one little anxiety and then this grows and suddenly there seems to be so many things that create anxiety. I myself was a bit worried about buying this for him and 'Naming' and using the 'A' word. I think I had avoided letting him know that he had 'anxieties' and was skirting round the issues, but we did offer lots of reassurance hoping it would go away. I didn't realise that 'reassurance' was actually making it worse! Parents you have to read this to realise how innocently we make the problem worse. This book has been as good for me and his Dad, as it has been for our son. When I told my son I had ordered this book he was so relieved (I felt like crying). It has been a great help to him and he has contained his anxious feelings and has some great skills to draw on. I'v read some of these reviews and parents say their children have lapsed back into anxiety and I can only give our experience. At first we had sudden and great results, and then my son's confidence faltered and the anxieties fought back. At this stage it's really important to hold your nerve and stay confident and the book covers this issue too. A great book and we are so glad we found it as we have all benefited! Definitely worth a try

I desperately read ALL the reviews on this book, wondering if it would help my daughter. Things had snowballed out of control with her worries and they were fast developing into phobias. My daughter is a reactive worrier rather than a 'what if' worrier. Fire, wind, rain, lifts, burglars are just a few of them and they were starting to take over her life and affect the whole family. This book is a life line when you're waiting for the CAMH's appointment to come through and you feel at a loose end. We've had this book for 2 or 3 weeks and have seen a positive difference. We have a way to go yet, but I really feel that this book is helping to control the worries and teach us how to deal with them. We realised we were starting to help 'feed her worries' by talking things through but we now 'lock them away until worry time'. In fact, my daughter says she no longer needs her worry time! We will also be buying the sleep book by the same author. If you can relate to these reviews, then do buy this book and don't forget there is also support at school, talk to your child's teacher and a senco if need be. An update, 18 months later my daughter is like a different child. After an 18 week CBT therapy course with CAHMS, our daughter worries about very little, and if she does, she is able to contain it and not let the worries get out of control. I wanted to give desperate parents reassurance that things can get better. We still have bed time worries, but I must highly recommend Bed Tim Meditation for Kids CD's by Christanne Kerr. Good luck!

This book was recommended to me by a Parent Support Advisor who said that it was a common resource used by the children's mental health team. I'm working through it at the moment with my 8 year old son and it is helping him lots. What I would say is that you need to stop after each chapter, to give the child time to absorb the information. Reading it in one or two sittings is information overload and they forget some of the tips in the book. As parents it's very helpful to know how to tackle anxiety in children and this book does give parents useful tips too, such as reminding your child of the techniques used in the book. You have to be fairly firm at first, especially if they want to discuss worries when it's not "worry time", but this firmness does help and it helps us parents to know that we are doing the right thing because when you have an anxious child, you can often feel as though you are flailing in quick-sand and the advice you are given can be so conflicting. I have used this as an instruction manual on how to deal with his worries. We are taking it slowly, just one step at a time so that he can put the techniques into practice and see them working. I've even caught my 11 year old daughter reading it with interest and as she's at that age of worries about practically everything too, I'm hoping she might find it just as useful! I wouldn't say this is the answer to your prayers, your child might need some back-up at school or with a counsellor too, but it's something you can do at home to help your child, which as parents is all we really want. This book arms you with the tools you need to make a step in the right direction and if you as parents feel more positive about tackling the issue, then that positivity will rub off onto your child. Every school should have a copy of this book.

My ten year old son was bullied at school briefly last spring and since then he seemed to gather worries around him getting more wound up by everyday things even after the initial problems were sorted out. Things he had once enjoyed became stressful and I was at my wits end not knowing what to do to help. In a moment of inspiration I came across the book. I can not praise this book highly enough. It is written for the child to read themselves or with their parents, it is friendly and understandable. It explains that everybody gets worries and it teaches some useful techniques a family can use to help control and ultimately to beat the worries. It doesn't work instantly, although there was a big improvement straight away, it has been six months since we started using the book and while he is not fully confident in every situation he now knows how to deal with his worries and they are not overwhelming him anymore. This book is worth very penny you pay for it.

I am 11 years old. Since the age of 9 I have been suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder. This has made me feel anxious most of the time and I've struggled to enjoy fun family activities. This feels horrible and I wish I could change the past. I can't, I just have to change the future. Me and my parents have really struggled to know how to handle my anxiety. The school nurse recommended another book which was too babyish for me. The top item was this book. We checked it out and read some of the reviews. We couldn't resist buying this book as we needed some help to deal with the anxiety at home. Since we read this book, my life has changed. I am no longer constantly feeling anxious or filling my mind with negative thoughts. The book has taught me to lock away my worries until "Worry Time" where me and my mum/dad can speak about my worries and overcome them. I am not allowed to talk about my worries until this time or I am "Watering the Tomatoes" which means my worries are growing. Before this book, we used to talk about my worries and anxiety ALL of the time, trying to get rid of them by talking but we soon realised that we were completely wrong. The book has really fun activities in it which helps me to interact during worry time. My family and I,strongly recommend this book for any child that suffers from really bad anxiety or worries constantly. I hope this review has helped you.

Great condition, absolute bargain! My little boy is really enjoying it. Thank you!

This book turned out to be fantastic! We have had the book since early 2016 and it is now October. It has given our daughter a sense of control over anxiety and worry. She now has coping mechanisms and her symptoms and acting out behaviors have all but completely disappeared. She doesn't have to constantly use the steps in the book anymore (that we know of ;), but when she starts to worry, she usually remembers to apply the steps herself, and on that very rare occasion that a worry spills out, we are quick to remind her to start applying her steps, which so far, has quickly resolved any issues. She especially loves applying Logic (which we found out from an adult in therapy that this is exactly how a therapist starts attacking worries, which makes sense since the author is a professional), the Worry Box, and drawing pictures. At 6 years old, she could technically read this book, but it is longer than most 6 yr olds would comfortably read themselves. The type is a bit larger than it would be for an average adult - maybe 12-14 pt type, which makes it easier for littles trying to read. At first, we read the book together (meaning she sat in my lap while I read) and she enjoyed the pictures and drawing. Once in a great while, she'll even grab the book off the shelf and find a section on her own to reread to herself. This has been a great resource for us as parents when we weren't sure how or where to start when our child's anxiety started becoming an issue we all needed to face. It was a perfect step for us before going to a professional and we feel this book helped us avoid that next step. It's great for parents too - we learned quite a bit ourselves and can't we all use a few more things to help take some stress out of our lives! ;) Highly recommend!

Really helpful and practical advice for kids with anxiety. And pitched at just the right level for them to understand and read themselves. Brilliant.

心配事はトマトのようだよ、と英語で語る本。 英語が分かる親や先生、周りのおとなが心配性の子どもと一緒に日本語に訳しながら読むことが温かみを増すのではないかと思った。 「トマトは食べることができても心配事は食べれない。だけど、トマトを育てるように、心配事も注目していると育つのだよ」と教えているカワイイ本です。 「いらない心配事」を減らすためには、どうするのか...本を読んでのお楽しみです。 子どもがおとなと一緒に楽しく、心配事が減らせること間違いなし！

Llego en tiempo, cumple con lo que ofrece. Buen producto.

Helped my child with his anxiety.