What to do if you fall into anxiety? “Inside Out 2”: Faced with various voices in your head, you still have a choice
“Inside Out 2,” co-created by Disney and Pixar, was released in mid-June. Within two weeks of its release, it topped the global box office, reaching US$720 million, not only surpassing “Dune 2” ’s box office and became the highest-grossing movie in 2024.
Further reading: Being bombarded by customers makes me so unhappy all day! How to save yourself when you feel “emotionally exhausted”?
Nine years have passed since “Inside Out”, and the little girl Riley in the movie has grown into a teenager. The story axis of “Inside Out 2” focuses on Riley’s adolescent changes. In addition to the characters representing 5 emotions in the first episode: Joy, Anger, sadness, disgust, and fear, 5 new emotional characters have been added: anxiety, envy, shyness, burnout, and nostalgia.
Pixar@YouTube
Appropriate anxiety has its positive meaning, but excessive anxiety may lead to abnormal performance.
In the previous episode, Joy had the upper hand on the emotional control panel. Even if emotions such as worry, anger, and disgust suddenly appeared, Joy would do her best to make Riley return to happiness and carefreeness. state of consideration. In this episode, as Riley grows up, new emotions are added, and the dominance slowly shifts to anxiety(or is occupied).
The academic and interpersonal pressure she faced during adolescence gradually made Riley less happy and began to have more worries: she learned that after this summer vacation, her best friend would no longer go to the same school as her; It was the last time friends spend together, but in a new environment, should you stick with old friends or spend time making new ones? And should I disguise myself to please new friends?
Behind these worries lies the emergence of many emotions. For example, the “anxiety” that the movie focuses on appears as anxiety said: “My job is to protect her and avoid those terrible things from happening. I am planning for the future.” From a positive perspective. See, anxiety is a self-protection mechanism. When dangerous things approach, people will feel anxious and start to want to do something to prevent or face the crisis.
However, excessive anxiety may make people unable to bear it, or they may behave contrary to their own beliefs. Just like Riley, to pave the way for her future, she chose to play with her hockey classmates when she was divided into teams instead of her past good friends. Teammates; even to score points, do not hesitate to do things that hurt their friends.
Pixar@YouTube
Don’t be kidnapped by your emotions! Accept yourself as you are now, reconcile, and get along with it
In the movie, anxiety wants to control everything and chooses actions that go against Riley’s nature, which will make the audience feel uncomfortable and oppressed. And because of anxiety’s overuse, Riley almost had a panic attack in a key match. I have to say that this fully demonstrated the discomfort this emotion can cause.
In the end, it was Joy and other emotions who let go of their dominance, allowing Riley to reconcile with herself and accept herself now. This also returns control to Riley. When the light on Joy floats towards the main console, it means Riley needs Joy’s help now. She hopes that she is happy at this moment.
“Inside Out” is a movie about various emotions, but, when various emotions want to fight for and control the main control, they are actually like the words that often pop up in our minds, maybe “I can’t, I can’t do it,” or “I suck, what can you do to me?”, or “Why is no one on my side,” etc.
The voices of these emotions in the brain are the words of Ethan, an American experimental psychologist who specializes in emotional regulation. What Ethan Kross calls the “inner voice” will suddenly come out to talk to you when you are doing something. It may encourage you or judge you.
As we grow older, these words begin to control our lives and shape our self-identity. It may be like Lele who gives you positive energy, “The first time is always harder, but it will be better next time!” or it may be like Youyou, who is worried that he will screw up everything, or it may be like Ajiao, rehearsing the future in his mind. What could happen?
Ultimately, however, the choice is yours whether to listen to these voices.
Pixar@YouTube
What to do when you get emotional? Create psychological distance and take back emotional control
To give yourself the right to choose, the first step is to temporarily remove yourself from the frame and face things with a neutral attitude. “Strong Inner Self-Talk Habits” suggests that the simplest way is to “talk about yourself in the third person.” When you find yourself in panic or emotional, you can stop and say to yourself, “Okay, …(Your name), calm down.”
Cross emphasizes that when you refer to yourself in the third person, you can create “psychological distance”, which will make you feel like you are talking to someone else when you are talking to yourself, which will immediately calm you down.
Doing so will not only overcome nervousness but also promote rational thinking and allow you to make more informed decisions. On the contrary, if you use the first person to talk to yourself a lot, research shows that this way of speaking has a clear positive correlation with negative emotions.
Next time, when the emotions such as anxiety, envy, shyness, burnout, and nostalgia, etc. in your heart keep talking to you in your mind, you can also choose to talk to yourself in this way, let these emotions let go, abdicate, and obey Take back control of your own heart.
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