What 'Inside Out 2' Got Right About Anxiety, Per A Psychologist
Jun 19, 2024
auto_awesome
Clinical psychologist Lisa Damour discusses the accuracy of anxiety and puberty portrayal in Inside Out 2. She provides guidance on managing anxiety. The podcast delves into the evolution of anxiety, panic attacks, and teenage mental health in the movie.
Anxiety plays a vital role as a natural emotion, offering protection within healthy boundaries.
Puberty triggers intense emotions due to neural upgrades that prioritize emotions over rationality.
Deep dives
Evolution of Emotions in Inside Out 2
Inside Out 2 depicts Riley as a 13-year-old navigating through puberty and the challenges that come with it. Clincial psychologist Lisa DeMoor explains how the film's portrayal of new emotions like envy, embarrassment, ennui, and anxiety aligns with the evolving scientific understanding of emotions. The addition of anxiety as a central character showcases its importance as a natural human emotion, highlighting its protective role when within bounds.
Puberty's Impact on the Brain in Inside Out 2
The film accurately captures the intense emotions experienced during puberty, illustrating how neural upgrades affect emotional responses. Lisa DeMoor explains that the brain remodels in a top-down manner, upgrading emotions first before rationality. This imbalance leads to heightened emotions in teens with an underdeveloped perspective, depicted through Riley's rollercoaster of feelings.
Managing Anxiety through Cognitive and Physiological Interventions
Riley's panic attack in the film resonates with the reality of such experiences. Lisa DeMoor discusses cognitive interventions that address irrational anxiety by exploring threat overestimation and empowering individuals with agency. Physiological interventions, like controlled breathing, help reset the body's response to anxiety, signaling safety. The film's focus on anxiety provides a timely depiction of teenage mental health challenges, emphasizing the normalcy and manageability of uncomfortable emotions.
Pixar's new movie, Inside Out 2 came out Friday. It's the sequel to the 2015 movie Inside Out, which follows the life of 11-year-old Riley and her family as they move to San Francisco. In Inside Out 2, Riley is 13 and thriving in her new city. She has friends and is a star on her hockey team. But when puberty hits one night, four new emotions come into play: Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment and most of all, Anxiety.
Clinical psychologist and Inside Out 2 consultant Lisa Damour says the movie is surprisingly accurate when it comes to experiencing anxiety and puberty. Plus, she offers some guidance to help make the most of our anxiety.
Have other pop culture science you want us to decode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to consider it for a future episode!