What Children Can Learn from 'Inside Out'

Not only is Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out one of the hottest movies in theaters, it can also offer an opportunity for parents to start a conversation with children and teens about their feelings.

“The movie simplified emotions, the intricacies of the brain, how information flows and how and why we react the way we do to our world,” said Tina Walch, MD, medical director of South Oaks Hospital in Amityville. “Though some of the concepts may have been lofty for the age groups the movie targets, it does open the dialogue for patients to begin to talk about emotions.”

Dr. Walch encourages parents to use the lightness of the cartoon characters in this movie to start a conversation about how their children feel; how emotions work and change; and how talking about people’s feelings and emotions can help.

“Through this vehicle, parents may begin to talk about our responses to the world, how we have all of these different emotions within us and how our memories, family and support systems sustain us in difficult times,” Dr. Walch said.

The movie also begins to introduce the idea of depression.

“The film tiptoes around the topic of depression – depicting the feelings without labeling them – and it looks like a really bad thing that makes people do things that are out of character for them (in Riley’s case, stealing money from her mother and running away),” Dr. Walch said. “If you see Inside Out with your tween, consider using it as a way to start the conversation with your child about feelings, emotions and mental health. Broaching and normalizing these concepts early in – in elementary and middle school; in health class; at the dinner table – are the first steps to understanding and de-stigmatizing depression.”

For more information about child and adolescent psychiatry, click here.

Photo Credit: Disney/Pixar