Inside Out 2: Lessons & Tools for Mental Health

By: Camden Baucke MS LLP

Inside Out 2, the sequel to Pixar’s first groundbreaking film, offers a unique opportunity to explore emotions in a relatable and accessible way. The first film insightfully portrays the inner workings of a young girl’s mind, personifying emotions such as Joy, Anger, Fear, Sadness, and Disgust. The sequel delves even deeper into more intricate human emotions, such as Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui. These movies can be more than just fun stories. They are valuable tools for your mental health and can help you better communicate how you feel.

Understanding Emotions Through Storytelling

Inside Out 2 provides a meaningful yet lucid narrative that can help everyone, especially children, understand their emotions. By personifying emotions, the Inside Out films make it easier for you to identify and discuss your feelings. Anyone can use the characters and scenarios to help label their emotions. For example, if you struggle with feelings of sadness, you might feel most comfortable sharing what your “Sadness” character is feeling and saying. This process can help draw parallels to your own experiences, making it easier to discuss your emotions in a non-threatening way.

Big Feelings Made Simple

Inside Out 2 introduces new emotions that lead to more complex emotional experiences. This reflects the emotional development of children as they mature into teenagers. This progression is ideal for discussions about how emotions evolve and interact. Anxiety has been considered a main star of the show, and it is no easy subject. However, anxiety now has a face, a voice, and a motive. It then becomes easier to understand what anxiety is and does. As a result of the movie, even a complex emotion such as anxiety can now be better understood, applied, and communicated. If you can find a way to match a personal feeling to a character, it can make it that much more understandable for yourself and others.

Enhancing Communication & Strengthening Relationships

Inside Out 2 can be a powerful tool to enhance communication between families and loved ones. Watching the film together could provide a shared experience that can serve as a foundation for deep and meaningful conversations. After watching the film, family members can discuss which characters they relate to the most and why. This can lead to a deeper understanding of each other’s emotional experiences and promote empathy. For example, a parent might learn that their child relates the most to Anger. Asking why Anger is relatable then leads to questions of what makes Anger angry, then what angers their child in a similar way. Such conversations from the Inside Out films can help you support your loved ones and foster a healthy environment at home.

Coping Strategies and Emotional Regulation

Inside Out 2 offers valuable lessons in coping strategies and emotional regulation. By showing how the characters navigate various challenges, the film provides practical examples of how to manage difficult feelings. You can use specific scenes to discuss and recognize helpful coping mechanisms. For example, a scene where a character uses deep breathing to calm down can be a practical demonstration of a relaxation technique. Discussing these scenes can also help you identify which strategies resonate with you and how you might incorporate something similar into your daily life.

Encouraging Self-Reflection

Inside Out 2 encourages you to reflect on your own emotional journeys and consider how your experiences shape your emotional landscape. This self-reflection is a key component of personal growth. In conversation, you can reflect on your own emotional “control panel” using the film’s visual representation as a guide. This exercise can help identify which emotions dominate certain experiences and help you consider how to strive for a more balanced emotional state. Once you can recognize who’s at the controls, then you can plan what to do to promote your mental health.

Conclusion

Inside Out 2 is more than just an entertaining film; it’s a valuable tool for communicating emotions and strengthening relationships. By personifying emotions, the film provides a relatable and accessible way to understand and discuss feelings. Whether used in a therapy or with loved ones, Inside Out 2 offers an opportunity to enhance emotional awareness, communication, and connection. As you embark on this emotional journey, you may find yourself better equipped to navigate the emotions inside your own head.

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