Emotions

I'm not sure why, but Em (who is 6) has been calling the movie 'Inside Out' "Emotions". She and Brad have been wanting to see it since it came out months ago! We finally went to the theater and saw it today!

I saw this trailer-


I told Brad, "That is what depression is like, sadness just takes over. It changes happy memories/ thoughts into sad one!" Going into the movie I knew I was going to be thinking about how it related to depression the whole time.

The movie was so good! It wasn't as funny as I expected, but I also didn't expect to cry! Really, I didn't expect to cry... Do I not know me at all? I always cry! It was interesting how similar what the main character, Riley, went through was like depression. You feel almost numb to your emotions, and when you do feel them they are all out of whack. It feels as if sadness has taken over and is in control of all emotions.

(Spoilers if you haven't seen the movie yet)

So often people think, wouldn't it be nice or easy to not have sadness, or fear, or disgust or anger. That would make things so much easier. Inside Out shows how essential it is to have all these emotions. They balance each other out. At times you need to feel sad or angry. It is healthy to feel them and express them.

I have been told, even by professionals, that positive thinking can make the depression go away completely. Inside Out shows how complex the human emotions are. Yes, thoughts create feelings (emotions) which creates actions. What some people might not understand about depression is how the wiring between thoughts and feelings isn't always the same. One person might be able to think about something happy and feel happy, while someone with depression can think about the same thing, but instead of joy being there, it is sadness. For me, I have found that changing some of my thought patterns has helped, but it has not cured my depression.

One of my favorite parts is when Joy and Sadness walk along in long term memory Sadness touches each memory she walks by turning it sad. Depression has a way of warping happy memories into sad ones. Joy tells her to stop touching them and Sadness explains that she doesn't want to mess things up, but she can't stop the urge to keep touching them.

The most interesting part was at the end when Joy realizes how important Sadness is. She sees that one of Riley's sad memories lead to a happy one. Often it takes sadness to be able to also experience joy. It also showed how feeling sadness leads to feeling the love and support of others.

"Once you allow yourself to accept those emotions, things might start to look up"- Inside Out

Another advertisement I saw, here, also shows that anger is also essential. I'll never forget this week (read about it here) in SOLE when Joy (counselor Joy that is) had me address my anger. So often we are told that being angry is bad. Yet, it is important to feel it and express it in the right ways.