What we’ve learnt about anxiety from Inside Out 2
Can you believe it’s been almost a decade since the original Inside Out came out? Released in 2015, it quickly became a fan favourite, was nominated for two Oscars, and named as one of the top ten films of the year by the American Film Institute.
4 min read
Cut to 2024, and Inside Out 2 has been received with just as much (and maybe more!) positive acclaim.
Our star, Riley, is now a teenager and the film is centred around her at a three day hockey camp, and all the emotions that come with being a teen. Of course Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust are still there, but in this film, in this part of Riley’s life, we’re introduced to new emotions too. They are:
- Anxiety - voiced by Maya Hawke
- Envy - voiced by Ayo Edebiri
- Embarrassment - voiced by Paul Walter Hauser
- Ennui (it means boredom) - voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos
You know, all the classic feels of being a new teen!
Anxiety take the wheel
While all the emotions play a part in making up how Riley feels, Anxiety definitely takes the lead role in Inside Out 2. And it makes sense, right? She’s not only in a new place, but navigating puberty, trying to make new friends, and the pressures of being good at something she really loves; hockey.
It’s during a hockey practice session that Riley has her first panic attack and anxiety takes control of her mind. Negative thoughts are thrown around, and she feels pressure to be the best in the team, resulting in her freezing up.
And anxiety also plays a big part in Riley trying to make new friends. She wants to fit in so badly that she pretends to be someone she’s not (thanks to Anxiety and Envy taking over), to impress the ‘cool girls’ and leaves her real friends behind.
She might not realise why she’s doing it, but that’s the thing… sometimes it's hard to understand how you’re feeling when you’re feeling it. Especially if you’ve never come across this feeling before!
Put a name to your feelings
We spoke to Max, who recently saw the film and had a great insight into why this kind of thing happens.
“While it might sound quite simple, understanding and identifying emotions can be really difficult,” he said. “When I first started university, I was so caught up in worrying about whether I would fit in and find friends, that I closed myself off from my peers and made myself pretty unapproachable. In hindsight, I can see how this anxiety was trying to protect me from being embarrassed or rejected when I was feeling really vulnerable. But in the end it stopped me from being able to express myself and fully experience this new environment.”
Once you’re able to name what you’re feeling, and have some kind of idea of how this emotion works with and for you, the overwhelming side of it, the bigness of it, can start to subside.
Feel everything together
At its very core, anxiety as a whole isn’t a villain, for any of us. It isn’t something that wants us to fail, it’s just something that is driven by protection.
And in Inside Out 2, Anxiety, much like Joy, is motivated by her love for Riley. Everything she does when she's on the controls is to protect Riley. And yes, that means she comes up with every single possible mistake and situation that could happen. Yes it sometimes makes Riley selfish, or a little rude, or mean, or hard on herself.
But, at the end of the day anxiety kind of needs to be there.
Max hits the nail on the head, saying, “Riley’s anxiety is just trying to do what she thinks is best for Riley. And my anxiety was trying to protect me from being hurt. I know I can’t avoid it, but I can prepare myself. Working with my anxiety and understanding its motivations has allowed me to be more present and fully myself.”
So, just like Anger and Fear and Sadness, which are all emotions that don’t necessarily scream positivity, Anxiety helps make you a whole person, alongside the Joy and other positive elements.
If you didn’t have a bit of everything, you’d be a whole lot of nothing, and no one wants that!
So, what do you think your anxiety can help you do? Maybe you’re a little scared of making new friends, or trying new things…but maybe that’s the place to start. And guess what? You can do all of that on NCS! Check out our different experiences today and see where your emotions will take you.
