Inside Out Review



Good Review about Inside Out:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2015/07/01/inside_out_how_realistic_is_the_psychology.html

I would add to this review that the movie is also good for educating parents about the usefulness of all emotions. As parents, it is very important to mirror the feelings of our children and allow them to talk about their experiences rather than just encouraging them to "be okay." Regarding eating disorder treatment specifically: individuals with EDs are oftentimes highly attuned to the feelings of others, but disconnected from their own internal experiences. When an individual neglects their own feelings and focuses on the emotions of others, food becomes a way of managing emotions (e.g. distraction by focusing on rigidity of restricting food, eating to numb out, purging as a way to feel pain or difficult emotions, etc.). Eating disorders are oftentimes more strongly tied to affect regulation than body image issues - which is surprising to most people. Understanding that eating disorders are not about the food and not about trying to be skinny, can help individuals move past the guilt/shame/embarrassment of what society judges eating disorders to be.

Our society contributes in so many ways to the development of eating disorders: fat shaming, media pressure to be thin, diet obsessed media, culture in general suggesting certain emotions (sadness, anger, etc.) should not be expressed, high standards of achievement in schools promoting perfectionism ---- It's really scary to think about the future for our young girls. This movie, however, gives me hope that we are moving in a positive direction in some ways. Hopefully, the next version of inside out will discuss changes of puberty since the movie ended with Riley at 12 years old. Perhaps the writers of the next Inside Out will focus on the importance of effectively managing conflict (assertiveness and other skills our young girls need to understand) and normalizing the body changes (weight gain, body shape changes) that are necessary during puberty.

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