How I Used Inside Out 2 to Self-Diagnose My Anxiety…Again

What Pixar’s latest film had to teach me about my mind

Photo by Christopher Ott on Unsplash

Mary Catherine Bateson, a prominent writer about culture in her day, once said “the human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories.”

Pixar could easily have that statement plastered all about their office — capturing a truth they know innately, proven through their storytelling ethos.

“Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.”— Jodi Picoult, “Sing You Home”

While I’m not usually a fan of using movies, stories, or listicles to self-diagnose mental illness, there’s something to be said for the merit of the incredible film that is Inside Out 2.

It has a unique ability to point out some of the more maladaptive worries we may have in our lives and the way it wrecks our sense of self.

I know it did that for me.

Stories move us. They show us things we don’t understand, think about, or find important before.

This story in particular, a week post watching the film, taught me how much I’d been letting anxiety run the show — confusing her…