“What are you going to be for Halloween this year?” “Tension.” It’s not the answer you’d expect, but it’s a top choice for Halloween costumes after its release this summer Inside out 2the follow-up to the 2015 Pixar hit in which feelings are personified. Child development experts praised the animated sequel for introducing young viewers to the newly added emotion of fear (voiced by Maya Hawke), which surfaces in main character Riley’s brain as she deals with the pressures of being a teenager brings.

Among the witches, Minions, skeletons and other popular characters making the trick-or-treating circuit this year, families may also come across children’s costumes or Pinterest tutorials to help kids master Anxiety (something you never thought that you would say it).

But for children it is not just a simple costume. It’s also a chance to dress up as a sentiment that is difficult to convey, even though reports suggest this is on the rise. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10% of American children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed with anxiety.

Layla Kippert, a 10-year-old from Tucson, Arizona, is one of many children who will dress up as Fright this Halloween. “I felt like the way Riley’s brain worked was very similar to the way some of my brain works,” she tells Yahoo Life. That includes thinking, as Anxiety does in the film, that “you should hang out with the cool girls, not your friends.” Layla says she could identify with the character: “always preparing for the future, always being careful of your surroundings instead of just being yourself.”

Layla says the Inside out 2 filmmakers “got it right” when they depicted what fear can feel like. “How (Anxiety) sometimes dressed a little awkwardly, and how (she) would also say, ‘What if I need help?’ or would stumble upon (her) words, or how (she) would be like, ‘Oh my God, we have to prepare for this and that and this and that… these are the dangerous things that can happen.’ I feel like that’s really nerve-wracking,” she says.

Choosing Fear as her Halloween costume is an important step for Layla. “I used to just hide (my) fear,” she says. “But when I dress up as Anxiety (the character), I can express my feelings. I feel like (we) have a lot of connection.”

Some mental health professionals say the costume can serve as a kind of “coming out” related to emotional issues. “For some children it may be easier to dress up as Anxiety and let (people) ask them about it, rather than having to tell others that they sometimes suffer from anxiety, or (that) they can identify with the feelings that the character has,” says Vicki Bolina, a clinical psychologist at LifeStance Health in Vernon Hills, Illinois.

Bolina notes that some kids choose a fear costume simply because they think the character is cool and don’t necessarily feel the emotion themselves. Take Isla Runge, a six-year-old from Beaman, Iowa. She dresses as Angst “because I like her,” she tells Yahoo Life. “She’s cool and orange. She’s funny and stupid and goes crazy when she drinks all the soda.

But behind all the fun, even younger kids like her are learning about feelings along the way. “They made Angst want to make Riley a new Riley – a better Riley,” says Isla. “Fear wanted to make her perfect, but no one can be perfect.”

Even children as young as 3 years old choose other emotionally inspired characters for their costumes. Katie Wilson, a Cincinnati mom, says her three-year-old daughter Elle picked out a Joy costume after they watched Inside out 2 on the big screen. Although Wilson says Elle learned that no emotion is “bad” from watching the movies and dressing up, she did have some doubts about her father’s plan to get involved by playing the character Anger.

“(Elle) was very concerned about my husband dressing up as Anger – he had to convince her that he wouldn’t shout and be angry!” Wilson tells Yahoo Life. Elle also wore her Joy costume to a recent tumbling class, which gave her teachers the opportunity to talk about big feelings. “She was crying in class about something, and the teachers told her she was Joy and should be happy,” Wilson says. “Probably some learning moments there about experiencing feelings.”

Bolina adds that the conversations that come from the costumes are essential to combating mental health stigma. “It’s critical that we provide our children with more comfort in asking questions about their mental health,” she tells Yahoo Life. . This will help open up more conversations and comfort in all things mental health.”

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