3 people in my immediate family live with anxiety: my kids (ages 11 and 13), and me. As a Professional Learning Specialist For Teaching Channel, I’ve created courses and resources about anxiety, mental health, and other topics important to everyone, but especially for adolescents. Anytime I can share my knowledge with my kids about how anxiety works, or strategies to mitigate it, I would expect to be thanked, or even lauded., After all, I’m sharing from my deep well of infinite knowledge (cue the sarcasm), and offering information that directly connects with what they are experiencing. They have a well-versed expert in the house- lucky!
Since “expert” doesn’t have anything to do with snacks or the latest Minecraft update, my wisdom often fails to resonate.
Speaking of expertise, my family and I went to see Inside Out 2 last week. If someone in the movie biz produces something relatable, and I buy snacks, my kids will peel themselves from their lairs and join in.
Especially if one of the characters is voiced by, and I quote, “that really cute girl from Stranger Things.”
The kids and I left the theater with validation of our anxiety, along with helpful reminders for how we can manage this in ourselves. I found wonderful inspiration in this movie, helpful to kids and adults alike, as my kids and I left the theater feeling validated. The creators of Inside Out have outdone themselves in Inside Out 2, especially with their masterful representation of adolescent anxiety. The characters, emotions—Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, and Fear for the uninitiated—are still caring for their girl Riley, who is now in the throes of puberty. As Riley is tested by typical adolescent stressors, like friendship choices, pimples, self-consciousness, and her hormones all over the place, more emotions are initiated: Anxiety (the cute girl: Maya Hawke), Ennui (looooong glances at my kids here), Embarrassment, and Envy.
The next paragraph includes spoilers, so please watch Inside Out 2 before you read on!
There’s so much to feel as you watch Riley and her emotions try to coordinate a “chill” teenage image, but the striking part of this storyline is when a panic attack happens. Those who experience panic attacks feel them in different ways; the movie chooses a very powerful depiction. When everything is in overdrive, it gets quiet, and Anxiety becomes a blur in motion, an unbreakable centrifugal force. I use that term intentionally, as this force brings Riley away from her center, and “hijacks” the rest of her emotions until she can recover them.
For adolescents managing anxiety, this illustration is so impactful – showing the frenzy, but on helpless autopilot. The other emotions cannot stabilize Anxiety until Joy takes over the controls, and even then, without Anxiety in charge, there remains a blur- the residual physical effects of panic and anxiety, and the helplessness that comes with a lack of control. The silence in the theater was so intense, and a shared unease was palpable.
Movies like Inside Out and Inside Out 2 offer critical and approachable opportunities to talk about mental illness and life in a way that discourages stigma. Inside Out 2 offers very real depictions of what can happen to our brain in distress, along with feelings of joy, envy, and embarrassment. Any time we can help kids identify their emotions and strategies for managing them, they are building skills to become self-regulating and well-balanced humans. I encourage anyone who loves and cares for kids to see this film for an inside perspective on emotions, and how they affect all of us.
Equip yourself with strategies for helping students recognize and work through their emotions with a few of our favorite SEL courses. Each graduate-level, 3-credit course is packed with mental health and anxiety resources you can use to empower and support your students.
- Course 5102: Anxiety Awareness: Empowering Students with Help and Hope (K-12+)
- Course 5323: SEL for Middle and High School Students (5-12+)
- Course 5267: Mental Health Matters (PK-12+)
About the Author
Betsy Butler (she/her) is a Professional Learning Specialist at Teaching Channel. She holds a B.A. in English, a Master’s in Education, and has been teaching since 1992. Betsy uses her three decades of teaching experience to write and revise our courses while selecting the perfect accompanying texts. Her specialty areas include ELA, special education topics, behavior management, and mental health.
Fun Fact: Betsy’s daily conquest is solving the New York Times crossword puzzle!
