To have slight concerns about Inside Out 2

[Rainallnight]

We loved Inside Out. DC are 8 and 6. 8 year old is v emotional (this is relevant).

I’ve seen a trailer for Inside Out 2, and I’m a bit concerned about the Anxiety character. I’m not keen on the current tendency to label normal worries and discomfort as ‘anxiety’, and it’s not really an idea I want to introduce to the DC (DD in particular).

What do other people think? Anyone else share my mild concern?

(NB I’ve deliberately not posted this in AIBU because I’m up for a chat about this not a big row. Thanks)

That’s a really interesting point about the adult emotions having desks and working together, which I hadn’t picked up on! Very perceptive of your 13 year old 😊

@Rainallnight I agree with all the other comments that the film does a good job of showing how Riley is anxious about a particular situation, how Anxiety tries to prepare for everything to help Riley, then how bad it is for Anxiety to take over. The message is very much that it’s normal to feel anxious about things, but that letting anxiety take over isn’t the best way to manage things. At the end all the emotions are working together and are more balanced.

Unfairtravel that's a really good description of the differences. I'm sorry to hear about your relative.

Well I was born in the 70s and we aren't all off out now killing people because that's been the main thing with soap opera's since that time !
You seem to be deliberately missing the point. It is well-known that some mental health disorders can be particularly vulnerable to social contagion - I did not say that teens copy what they read or see. 🙄And of course, soap opera is just one example of how ideas can spread. These days social media is more prevalent.

I'm not deliberately missing your point at all !

The fact you talk about social contagion in the same sentance as soap operas doesn't give me any confidence that you know what you are talking about

I'm well aware that teens are and have always been at risk in some ways of social contagen but talking about anxiety and normalising it as a feeling that we all have nd that we wotk thorough isn't a bad thing like you seem to be saying

Causation or correlation…

are kids more anxious these days because discussion of mental health is more prominent and they’re pathologising normal feelings / moods in life and thinking they’re anxious / depressed??

Or are our children living a life that is much more unhealthy for them than we were evolved to cope with - and that’s behind the influx of mental health issues and an increasing need to diagnose disorders?

I know which side of the line I fall on.

regardless - watching the film inside out 2 isn’t going to convince a child they have anxiety. And if they believe they have symptoms of anxiety they will learn from the film that they can power through, accept the benefits and accept it as normal beneficial thinking - that works in moderation with all our emotions.

You can feel anxious without it being a mental illness though. Anxiety disorder is the illness isn't it? Everyone gets anxious from time to time?

I agree, it was a great way to explain emotions as we get older.

1. Where do you think I said it was a bad thing? I said we need to be cautious and the OP is right to want to know more aout how it is presented.
2. How do you think social contagion works? Soap operas are just one example, not as relevant as they once were, as I have already said. It's laughable that you think this proves that I don't know what I am talking about. I didn't post a ridiculous example about killing in sosp operas being an example of social contagion. That was you. 🙄

the example of the soap opera increasing numbers. A teenager is watching it. Do you think they feel anxious after watching it despite they’ve never been anxious before . Or they feel they now know what is happening with them , they give a name to their feeling and they feel they can talk about it.

@EasterIssland It's not that clear cut and it really depends on how it's presented. There is a big difference between presenting anxiety as something to be aware of, something that can be alleviated if help is sought and anxiety being presented as an identity which is necessarily limiting. Unfortunately, I have experience with the latter with some of my students who have been convinced that they are always going to have limited options in life. It's quite sad but it's not everybody's experience!

I think we've seen a very unhelpful shift in language from "feeling anxious" to "having anxiety". The former reflects the fact that for most people, most of the time, anxiety is a normal, transitory feeling caused by how we are processing an experience.

Whereas the second implies that anxiety is something that happens to you, becomes part of you, that you have no control over and you are powerless to stop. This is (to some extent) reflective of anxiety disorder, but is a really unhelpful way to view 'normal' anxiety. I can understand why the OP would be wary of a film that talked about anxiety in this way. From the sounds of it that isn't the case, and it does a good job of normalising 'healthy' anxious feelings.

Yes. The thing about the film is that all the emotions are personified. So the perspective is that we all ‘have’ Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Anxiety, Embarrassment, etc. Anxiety isn’t the only one.

We also don't like the overuse and labelling everything as anxiety. Being worried or nervous, yes fine as these things pass. But normalising that everyone is anxious or has anxiety seems ridiculous...will be giving this movie a wide berth but we have dodged most Disney movies in recent years because they are very woke, box ticking and trying to ram lessons down kids throats...rather than just a good story the way they used to be.

@GiantPigeon I think you are missing the point that the film agrees with you.

But that's exactly what the film tells you? That it's normal to be worried sometimes but you will get through it. Please don't write it off I think you will find it helpful in explaining that this is exactly what anxiety is. It is normal, and temporary and only a problem if it takes over.

dictionary definition of anxiety: an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future

Anxiety is a normal part of life, not necessarily something someone ‘suffers’ with. You may call it worry, others may call it anxiety. It seems people think anxiety is pathological. We can simply explain to a child what the feeling is, whatever we name it, and how we can deal with it in a healthy way. It sounds like the film does a good job of normalising it and showing how we have the power to focus on any of our throughs and emotions. I look forward to watching it

DD was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder when she was 14. We went through hell and back and I do think we don't talk enough about teen anxiety. Because if these things are seen more in media, teens wouldn't have the problems that nobody takes them serious.

I wouldn't watch a movie based on a teen who starts suffering with teen anxiety/worries with a 6 and 8 year old. Sorry, but a child can't relate to what a teen is seeing as a worry or being anxious about.

I took my 7 year old and felt the concepts went over his head. Should have waited until it came out on Disney +. I enjoyed it but not sure he did really.

I saw it today and I thought it was a great way of explaining it to kids. I suffer from anxiety and mild depression and wish I could have labelled anxiety a bit better if I'd had that knowledge since my teenage years.
However I don't think kids under 11 would really get the extended metaphor but it's stll enjoyable for them and a great way to start a conversation about troublesome feelings and worries.
I loved the ending when her parents said they loved all aspects of her.

In general, we’re all much better educated about emotional intelligence than older generations. That’s a really good thing. Younger people can identify and name emotions; most children learn that strong emotions are (good and bad) are normal.

My mum and my dd have a lot in common. My dd has ASD, and I suspect my mum would have been diagnosed if she were a teenager today. I see my mum struggling to self-regulate, or unable to identify specific triggers which can feel obvious when I’m with her. On the other hand, my dd can explain really well the science behind her anxiety - she can link that to the physical sensations, her behaviours and thought patterns. She has strategies to manage it and I hope that the total of this will limit the impact to her self esteem.

When so many young people talk about mental health, anxiety and depression, it’s easy to label them as a bunch of snow-flakes 😁 but I’m really hopeful that they’re just a lot further a long on a journey than we are.

Any thoughts on what Rileys deep dark secret was? It was never revealed

It was in the credits.

It's very hard to separate these
As someone who worries all the time about everything, yes it can frequently cause anxiety so I can understand why they are conflated

It's an interesting discussion here. It caught my attention because I really want to take my young teen lad to see Inside Out 2 and I have also just had a quite overwhelming 8 hours of anxiety which is just passing now - the ringing in my ears is just ebbing away and I can breathe deeply again without it feeling forced. It started building yesterday in anticipation of an event but almost became unbearable immediately prior to the event and lasted right up until 20 minutes ago.

I don't usually suffer like this. It was brought on by an emotional event I arranged. It went ok but I have been very taken aback by how much it affected me physically. For the last 2 hours I have relaxed and told myself the golden words 'this too shall pass'. It did luckily.

If I was experiencing that intensity of feeling and I didn't know it was going to go away I think I would have been terrified. However, I knew what had caused it, I knew the situation was coming to an end, I told everyone at the event how I was feeling and they understood and we rallied on.

I get a very, small amount of nerves/worry/anticipation before many things, often nothing at all phases me - but anxiety is different, it grabs you by the chest and won't let go. You can't purely 'pep talk' yourself out of it like you can with feeling a little anxious.

Alarm bells would be when anxiety does not shift once the stressful event has happened. In fact. if no stressful events are happening and you can still get severe, non-ending anxiety. This is when it's see a doctor time.

I think it's important that teens recognise this difference and know when it's overwhelming but manageable as it's due to a known cause and so shall pass, or if it's non-ending, not caused by anything in particular - this type needs someone to help you - it won't always go on it's own.

Sorry I wrote an essay! I hope it made sense

Just glad my ears have stopped ringing and can breathe again

I’m glad you feel better. Anxiety is really horrible but it is there to tell you something and we need to ‘listen’ to it and confront it. I think we all tend to suppress it or ‘think’ it away when really, we need to focus on physical solutions eg movement, breathwork etc. After all, the anxiety/stress response and all the sensations it brings, is due to changes in physiology and the nervous system. I think this is what we need to teach children.