Title: Oh, So Emo! Dealing with those big feelings

Author: Gayatri

Genre: Non fiction, Self help

Pages: 185

Publisher: Hachette Children's books

When a book has a forward by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, it definitely deserves to be picked up and read immediately. I have always been a strong advocate of mental health and when I saw this book that dealt with emotions, I immediately knew that I needed to read it urgently. I am a mom to to two young children (a toddler and a nine year old). Believe me my pre teen gives me anxiety, stress, frustration (name all those related conditions) way more than any patient needing psychiatric help has given me. But then, as an educated individual (both from medical perspective and millennial point of view), I want and need to support her; and not just suppress or neglect her emotions with yelling (from my side) and door slamming (from hers').. Also it is so important to have a hold on the understanding of various types of emotions. It is not restricted to any gender or age. One should and must pay attention to the feelings we experience over the various stages of life.

Apart from being an integral part of personal interest, I had read a lot of psychological and psychiatric texts in the medical college. While it's very much on the superficial level because during under graduation we don't need that much depth. It was out of my knack only that I devoured so much literature on mental health conditions. However I can safely say that I had never read any book that explains various emotions in such a simplified manner; the way Gayatri does in her book.

The most fascinating part of this book is the main hero: Sku : a wise "sunbird" who has gotten all his wisdom from Dorji, a 10 year old reincarnated monk, who has flown all the way from Tibet. He "speaks" way too much and clearly for a bird, and of course is an expert in understanding emotions. His comrades are various other birds, namely Karuna, Metta, Mudita and Uppekha. This group helps the little children, namely Amit, Susie, Frenny, Moin and Neela navigate their life in a better way by making them understand their emotions.

What I have found truly useful (from a clinical bent of mind) is the Sku guide that is given at the end of each kid's case. for example, the discussed emotion is "fear" ir feeling "scared". There are other related emotions listed and how to identify and distinguish them. Interrelated to fear are panic, anxiety, nervousness, insecurity and stress.

Each emotion is clearly bifurcated into 4 parts: How it feels, words to use, Sku's dos and affirmation.

Our wise Sku's dos are literally like intervational exercises from the shrink (very helpful). I personally love the Affirmation part too, which is such a great reminder to build a stronger you. 

While this book would be super helpful to young readers, it's not age specific. because my dearies, we all struggle with various emotions need a way to cope with them. I learnt so many thing from Sku which I love and plan to implement on myself, my kids and of course my patients.

PS I have gifted this book to my elder daughter who will turn ten in 3 months. Because I truly believe that it would help her to cope with various emotions.

A must read book if you want to have a better understanding of your feelings and how to handle them.

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