Amalia Andrade - Things You Think About When You Bite Your Nails: A Fear and Anxiety Workbook

THINGS YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU BITE YOUR NAILS

Things You Think About When You Bite Your Nails is a tender and witty examination of fear, in which Amalia Andrade shows us that fear is as universal and useful a teacher as heartbreak. She gives us an empowering opportunity to be observers of our own anxieties, and therefore become better caretakers of them. By the end of this funny, compassionate, and interactive deep dive into the things that scare us, I was ready to ask my fears to dance! During an era when the unknown future seems especially frightening, this book is a must-have companion that reminds us how much power we actually have over our own lives.

Mari Andrew, author of Am I There Yet? and My Inner Sky

Amalia Andrade is back with another book packed full of kindhearted, relatable, slightly manic, pop-culture-infused personal insight and reflective prompts. Deeply human, this book on fear and anxiety has already touched many like-minded souls and is sure to continue its impact with this English translation.

Adam J. Kurtz, artist and author of 1 Page at a Time

Things You Think About When You Bite Your Nails is a comforting, humorous, and unique endeavor into demystifying fear. Amalia Andrade so cleverly explores universal truths behind anxiety, while making room for the readers own terrifying thoughts.

Jordan Sondler, author of Feel It Out

As a fellow artist, I can certainly say that I hate Amalia. Im deeply envious of her vulnerability, and her clever ability to make me confront my own fears and traumas, all while making me laugh. Can you believe the nerve?! If youre interested in rediscovering yourself, or just laughing hard, please read this book and hate-love her along with me.

Timothy Goodman, author of Sharpie Art Workshop

This book is a comprehensive tool kit wrapped up in a soft warm blanket. It gives you the courage to fight your darkest fears, and it offers you the comfort to quieten your loudest anxieties. It is a safe and supportive space that will encourage you to live a fear-free life. Most of all, this book succeeds where most self-help books fail; it actually helps.

Lee Crutchley, author of How to Be Happy (Or at Least Less Sad)

This book is full of drawings and words of encouragement and gentleness. But it is also about fear. I know that sometimes neither illustrations nor soft words are able to diminish fears power. Thats why it is important for me to share that this book may have images or words that may be triggering for some readers. Inside these pages I talk about clowns, falling airplanes, uncles dying alone because of their fear of loneliness. I talk about syringes, dentists, spiders, witchcraft, failure, and darkness. I also talk about mental health, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress, phobia management, and OCD.

This book will ask you to kindly confront your fears. It is only through gentle and direct confrontation that fears can be overcome. The only way out is through.

I felt a cleaving in my mind

As if my brain had split;

I tried to match it, seam by seam,

But could not make them fit.

EMILY DICKINSON

I write as though to save someones life. Probably my own.

CLARICE LISPECTOR, A BREATH OF LIFE

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

BUT WHY A BOOK ABOUT FEAR?

Dear reader, this is a book about fearand as such, its very likely that while reading it you will experience some moments of terror. This doesnt mean that this is a SCARY BOOK. There are no monsters here. Actually, yes, there are some. But their purpose isnt to scare you. Their purpose is to help you unmask your fears, to take power from them, to conquer them.

This book is like stepping into a Freddy Krueger movie and, instead of being brutally murdered in your sleep, realizing that Freddy is actually a lowly modern-day adult who has to fill out his W-9 and pay his bills again because his payment bounced (for the tenth time), who has just been dumped by his boyfriend, and who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from that time his brotheron accidentdumped boiling hot tea on his face when he was thirteen years old, forever ruining his dream of starring in telenovelas.