Ana's Anxiety: A FriendTales Story

Ana's Anxiety: A FriendTales Story
by Emily Martin
Ana was created to help understand anxiety. She experiences panic attacks when it gets really bad. She is driven by the need to succeed and please people, but she is also never satisfied with her results.

About FriendTales
At FriendTales, we believe that if you can change your thoughts, you can change your world. This is really what we set out to do. We want to help create positive thoughts for kids who are overwhelmed in such a negative world. We are creating these comics to allow kids to understand their feelings through characters that embody different mental health states and enable the children to talk through their feelings with a chatbot of the characters in the story. We want to bring emotional storytelling to life. If we can shift their mindset, children will be more equipped for the future and will have the tools they need to overcome challenges.

This was a brilliant comic book. I chose the anxiety one because I have my own issues with anxiety sometimes and was interested to see what this was about. Amazing illustrations and great real-life experiences are what make this so great. Ana is experiencing anxiety with the pressures she puts on herself. She never wants to disappoint anyone or feel like she’s failing. Even when her friend, Mia asks her to come watch her volleyball game, her mind starts racing. She thinks about all the school work and studying she has to do. She gets so overwhelmed that she runs and hides in a utility closet. She is hyperventilating. She feels hopeless and can’t stop her mind from having these feelings. The story goes on with Ana meeting a nice woman at the store that helps her deal with her anxiety. While buying a gift for her mom, Ana gets a special ring that changes color with her feelings. The woman helps explain to Ana that this can help her realize she needs to decompress and calm herself down. Definitely a great read if you have children who have some anxiety issues. 
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