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We all have things we’re afraid of. For some, it’s something definite and tangible like, say, a spider. For others, like General Hospital‘s Scarlett Spears (Donna), those fears can be a lot harder to put into words. The young actress has no shortness of talent (in fact, you can still catch her as a young Glinda in Wicked: For Good right now), but Spears is no different from anyone else.

In fact, when she opened up to TV dad Maurice Benard (Sonny) on his State of Mine series, he understood her fears well. “It scares me when I’m alone and I’m ignored. Like being in my bedroom alone or something.” How does she get around that? “Whenever I’m playing with my dolls and the TV is turned off, I’ll ask my dad to turn the TV on. When I hear voices, it feels like people are actually in the room with me. So I don’t feel scared. Do you know what I’m trying to say?”

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Benard did, of course. He knew exactly what she meant, saying that he has the same problem and watches way too much TV. It’s tough to sit in silence with yourself. “But you know what,” he noted. “As life goes on for you — I do, too — you have to be comfortable in the silence. You should not need to put that TV on.” When she’s playing with her dolls, all Spears needs is “Yourself. That’s it.” She can use her imagination to keep herself company. Being alone doesn’t have to be scary, on any level. Check out the full clip below.

As Benard pointed out, it’s better to figure these things out when you’re still young, rather than waiting until you’re older and starting to grapple with them. Fortunately, that’s something Spears is already tackling. “Something that I like to do in silence is draw because I can actually think, myself,” she explained. “I can actually imagine what I want to draw instead of hearing a bunch of things that cross my mind.”