ASTRO: Knowing My Anxiety

In the first video about Sophia and George, you learned that anxiety is an emotion we all feel that can sometimes be helpful! But anxiety can be unhelpful when it is too much or too intense. Anxiety is also unhelpful when there is no immediate danger around.

If you struggle with unhelpful anxiety - you are not alone. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges for kids and teens, and autistic kids and teens are even more likely to struggle with anxiety.

Anxieties and fears can be grouped into different categories or types. Everyone experiences anxiety in their own way, so it’s important to learn more about what type of anxiety you experience. You might find that you have fears or worries that fit into one of these categories pretty well. But if your fears or worries do not fit into a category, that’s okay too- some types of anxiety are less common than others and may not fit into one of these groups.

The table below will tell you about some common anxiety types and what they look like:

Types of Anxiety

Types of Anxiety:	What It Looks Like:
Social Anxiety	Fears or worries about other people thinking badly of you, fear of being judged, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection in social situations, or fear of not understanding how to act in social situations.
Specific Fears or Phobias	Fear that is caused by a specific object or a specific situation. Common fears include: animals, bugs, blood, injuries, needles/shots, bad weather, heights, water, or other specific things.
Separation Anxiety	Fears or worries about being away from a loved one (such as your parent) or fears about being away from the home.
Generalized Anxiety	Having many fears or worries about day-to-day things or everyday topics. Common fears include: making mistakes, doing something wrong, bad things happening in the future, not doing well in school, doing a bad job in sports/hobbies, or plans going wrong.
Panic Attacks	A panic attack is when someone feels extremely scared very quickly or unexpectedly and has intense or uncomfortable physical sensations. Some people can become anxious about having another panic attack in the future.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)	Having unwanted thoughts (called obsessions) and performing behaviors over and over again (called compulsions) to get rid of the upsetting emotions from the thoughts. Common themes include: contamination, harm, taboo or "bad" thoughts, and symmetry or needing things to be "just right." You will be learning more about OCD in module 3!

Anxiety can be hard to understand, so it’s okay if this table is a bit confusing right now. It is also okay if you do not understand a whole lot about your own anxiety yet. This is something we will help you out with during this program. But when trying to tackle our fears and worries, the first thing we must do is figure out what those fears and worries are. So, let’s break things down a bit and give you some examples to help you out!

When thinking about your fears, some may jump to mind straight away, but there may be other worries in your life that are impacting you without you knowing.

View a PDF version.

George’s list of worries

Safety of his parents when they travel (injuries, accidents, etc.)
Embarrassing himself and not knowing what to say when interacting with classmates
Asking his teacher for help on assignments
Storms
Worry about his own health (if he has cancer)
Touching door handles or other shared items
Books on his bookshelf not being lined up symmetrically
Things that make loud noises or places with loud noises
Uncertainty about the future after high school

Sophia’s list of worries

Accidents happening to her parents
Hanging out with a group of classmates
Not getting a perfect score on math tests
Public speaking
Not getting to school on time
Getting sick after hugging or high-fiving other people
Having to brush hair over and over until it feels “just right”
Changes in her routine
Starting middle school at a new school

Take some time to think about what fears and worries are impacting you right now. Then, make a checklist of all your fears and worries using this Fear’s and Worries Checklist. Remember, you can either print out this form or save it to your computer to fill it out electronically. Check the box next to each of your fears and write in any that aren’t included on the list where it says “other.” After you complete the checklist, discuss it with your parent to see if there is anything they would add.

Think about your worries and fears and mark them all below. You can check the box next to each fear and write in any that aren’t included on the list where it says “other.” After you complete the checklist, discuss with your parent to see if there is anything they would add to the list.