When thinking about ways mental health is portrayed in social media, I immediately thought of movies, which are probably one of the most efficient ways of transmitting a message to people. After reviewing what seemed like an endless list of movies that greatly portrayed mental health to the audience I finally settled on Inside Out, a Disney movie. I could go into great detail with the plot of the movie but instead I will focus on what I think is the underlying message of the film: mental health. What this movie perfectly succeeds at is instigating its viewers to take a look inside their own minds.
Biggest lesson I took away from this film:
Happiness is not always about joy: Something I have come upon many times during my research is the idea that being happy ultimately does not mean one should always be in a positive state of mind or try to suppress negative emotions. On the contrary, as we can see in the movie, both sadness and joy are integral to our mental well-being. In fact, a recent study found that people who experience “emodiversity,” or a range of both positive and negative emotions, have better mental health than those who suppress negative emotions. This can be seen in the movie when sadness saves the day, sending the message that sometimes sadness is the “hero” we need.
This film is a shining example of the power movies have to transmit viewers a new understanding of the human experience. It demonstrates exactly what happens inside the mind of a person that is going through mental health issues. Emotions are messy and sometimes impossible for someone to control on their own, and that is what the movie is trying to explain.
Works Cited:
“‘Emodiversity and the Emotional Ecosystem’: Correction to Quoidbach Et Al. (2014).” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 143, no. 6, 2014, pp. 2066–2066., doi:10.1037/a0038431.