Stuntboy, in the Meantime

Anxiety is both a general feeling and a diagnosable mental illness. Everyone experiences anxiety at some point or another, and everyone is afraid of something. Anxiety is a feeling of fear or nervousness, and when it happens too frequently, too severely, or as a disproportionate response, it can be considered a mental health condition. In Portico’s case, he has not been diagnosed with anxiety disorder, but this is what he experiences and how he labels what he feels. Portico calls the physical symptoms that result from his anxiety “the frets,” and they can include sweating, shaking, freezing up, and feeling sick. Portico’s anxiety has always been with him and comes up when he experiences bullying or embarrassment; however, when Portico’s parents start fighting every day and separating all their belongings, Portico begins experiencing anxiety more often and more severely.

Portico learns to manage his anxiety with help from his best friend, Zola, illustrating the connection between coping with anxiety and stress and The Foundational Supports Provided by Friendship. When Portico gets anxious, he often finds it difficult to respond or to process his surroundings. He used to turn to his parents for support, but their conflict with each other takes up all their time and energy. However, Portico has Zola, who not only acts with empathy and understanding but also knows about yoga and deep-breathing exercises. These are common tools used to deal with anxiety, and Zola teaches Portico how to find his inner calm and focus so that he can approach his situation with more clarity. Zola also listens when Portico needs to vent his fears and frustrations, and she checks up on Portico when she knows he is upset. Her support gives Portico critical tools for understanding and moving through his anxiety.

In addition to learning coping techniques from Zola, Portico draws on his superhero alter ego, Stuntboy, to overcome his anxiety, revealing imagination’s role in supporting growth and development. The more Portico’s parents separate and the longer they argue, the less safe Portico feels at home. He initially responds by reverting to childhood tendencies like hiding under the coffee table and kicking the air to get his parents to stop fighting, but as he starts to see himself as Stuntboy, Portico becomes strong and brave. Picturing himself as a powerful superhero allows Portico to move more freely throughout the world, giving him new ways to interact with his environment and understand his own narrative. Portico’s alter ego becomes the way that he discovers his inner strength and his potential, and he starts to see that Stuntboy was within him all along. Where Portico once reacted with fear and retreated from conflict, he now rises to it and uses what he learned about staying calm in tense situations to fight through how he feels. In the story’s conclusion, Portico realizes that by being Stuntboy, he feels “no frets. No. Frets. At all” (254). He unites his Stuntboy character with his true self as Portico, and while the conflict within his family is not resolved and many changes are on the horizon, Portico now feels more equipped to handle the uncertainty ahead.