I was so excited to see it as a person who has anxiety their whole life, parent and psychologist. It was so great and a helpful tool for the future. And pixar movies always make me cry at some point.
For a look at anxiety and how WEIRD cultures fail to meet the conditions babies and parents need for optimal development ("evolved nest") see Dr. Darcia Narvaez. In this piece about Pixar's Inside Out 2, she says: "Although it is a common belief in WEIRD cultures, generalized anxiety does not plague all human beings—adolescents or otherwise. That is, generalized anxiety is not a baseline aspect of humanity in our ancestral context, hunter-gatherer civilization, where playfulness filled lives. Instead, the generalized fearfulness of anxiety is associated with the epigenetics of stress. Through epigenetics, the plastic shaping of gene function by experience, anxiety takes root in the individual."
And thanks for the shout out to my Jess Calarco convo. Highly recommend that book for anyone wondering why these structural obstacles to parenting in the United States are harder than they should be.
Thanks for writing this! As a parent to a nearly 13 year old I was thinking the other day about how parenting at this age feels a bit like when you throw a bowling ball and after letting go you try to steer it with your mind. You know you can't but you can't help but doing it anyway.
oh my goodness, Danielle, I can totally see that analogy in play! And then, of course, the guilt of wondering whether you did a good enough job making sure the bumpers are up...or trusting that your kid doesn't need the bumpers anymore?!
Can you tell how much I am both overthinking and totally freaking out?! 😅
This is a fantastic observation about how we relate to the various forces our kids are going through as they hit these tricky years and how we as parents try to navigate it.
My oldest is 11 and struggles with profound anxiety.
So we both watched through the last 20 minutes in tears in a dark but packed theater. And while I think the solution was a bit simplistic in regard to anxiety, the message at the end was really powerful.
Thank you, Naomi! As a friend pointed out, the parent<>child dyad "is like an insane feedback loop of anxiety sometimes" and we definitely do not appreciate that fact enough.
I was so excited to see it as a person who has anxiety their whole life, parent and psychologist. It was so great and a helpful tool for the future. And pixar movies always make me cry at some point.
I think working with Dr. Lisa Damour really helped them get the anxiety and teen emotion stuff right. I interviewed her about it here: https://www.teenhealthtoday.com/p/how-lisa-damour-helped-shape-inside
For a look at anxiety and how WEIRD cultures fail to meet the conditions babies and parents need for optimal development ("evolved nest") see Dr. Darcia Narvaez. In this piece about Pixar's Inside Out 2, she says: "Although it is a common belief in WEIRD cultures, generalized anxiety does not plague all human beings—adolescents or otherwise. That is, generalized anxiety is not a baseline aspect of humanity in our ancestral context, hunter-gatherer civilization, where playfulness filled lives. Instead, the generalized fearfulness of anxiety is associated with the epigenetics of stress. Through epigenetics, the plastic shaping of gene function by experience, anxiety takes root in the individual."
More: https://kindredmedia.org/2024/08/is-there-an-anxiety-generation/
I saw it too, and cried and cried! (In a good way.) Two thumbs up from this psychologist!
Oh, and yes - that montage from Up! The most emotional two minutes in cinema.
I love this writeup of Inside Out 2. Highly recommend for any family where anxiety is part of the conversation. Thanks for this!
And thanks for the shout out to my Jess Calarco convo. Highly recommend that book for anyone wondering why these structural obstacles to parenting in the United States are harder than they should be.
Thank you, Rebecca! Her book is so so good (and your interview!)
Thanks for writing this! As a parent to a nearly 13 year old I was thinking the other day about how parenting at this age feels a bit like when you throw a bowling ball and after letting go you try to steer it with your mind. You know you can't but you can't help but doing it anyway.
oh my goodness, Danielle, I can totally see that analogy in play! And then, of course, the guilt of wondering whether you did a good enough job making sure the bumpers are up...or trusting that your kid doesn't need the bumpers anymore?!
Can you tell how much I am both overthinking and totally freaking out?! 😅
This is a fantastic observation about how we relate to the various forces our kids are going through as they hit these tricky years and how we as parents try to navigate it.
My oldest is 11 and struggles with profound anxiety.
So we both watched through the last 20 minutes in tears in a dark but packed theater. And while I think the solution was a bit simplistic in regard to anxiety, the message at the end was really powerful.
Thank you, Naomi! As a friend pointed out, the parent<>child dyad "is like an insane feedback loop of anxiety sometimes" and we definitely do not appreciate that fact enough.
(And I completely agree with your last point)
As a mom of two teen/preteen daughters- boy is this relatable!!!!! I had a very similar experience watching that anxiety attack scene!!
Whew. Appreciate this, Celeste.
I was not prepared for that scene or my reaction and I'm so curious how many parents felt the same.