How books could help mental health and ease anxiety in children

Looking back, it's blindingly obvious that you can't bottle up all the thoughts and feelings that you don't want to have. Of course all that pressure is going to burst out. It's just a case of how - and when.

I was in my twenties when I had my first (and so far only) panic attack. Prior to that I assumed that panic attacks happened when you were really scared of something, and I was half right - it's just that in my case there was no actual threat present.

I was just taking a train journey on a sunny afternoon when I felt a sudden and overwhelming sense of dread. For some reason, my heart was pounding as though I was about to jump out of a plane with only a plastic bag for a parachute. The feeling intensified when I realised I couldn't understand any of the train announcements, or anything that anyone around me was saying. All I could hear was an indecipherable gobble-de-gook. The whole thing lasted for about five minutes, during which I used up a lifetime's supply of adrenaline and was completely terrified.

It wasn't much fun.

Shortly after that, I realised that you can't ignore anxiety, or any other problem in your life. It sounds obvious, but when you're in a position of denial, about anything, you can never be truly happy.

That's why I decided to focus on the idea of anxiety in my new picture book, Ruby's Worry.

Kids have just as many worries and concerns as adults do. The erosion of a friendship with a 'once-best-friend' will be just as intense to a 6-year-old as the breakdown of an adult relationship. Unpicking those raw emotional threads is just as hard when you're a child - possibly harder, because everything is new. When you're a child, you don't have a huge pool of previous experience to draw from.

Why it's good to talk about anxiety

I feel it's important for children, and their parents, to be offered books that might help them navigate their emotional journeys.

We encourage our kids to eat healthily and get enough exercise, so it makes sense that we also help them to understand their emotional wellbeing and focus on exploring ways to improve mental health.

In physical fitness you never say, 'There, I'm 100% fit now, I'll just sit back and take it easy!' You're always working on it - developing and maintaining strength, endurance, speed, agility and everything that makes for a healthy body. We should apply the same attitude towards mental health - it's a work in progress, not a set destination.

So the message in Ruby's Worry is simple and direct: if you're worried about something, anything, talk about it. Don't hide it away, or pretend it's not there.

I didn't specify what Ruby is worried about in the book because ultimately, it doesn't matter what the actual problem is - the solution will always be found by opening up about your worries and talking them through with someone, ideally someone thoughtful, sensible and sensitive!

Maybe it's not going to be the whole solution, but it's always the starting point, and once you know where to start, who knows how far you'll go?

Read our review of Ruby's Worry

How books help children discuss difficult feelings - and feel less alone