I'm A Mom, And I Can Totally Relate With Anxiety Of Inside Out 2

This article may contain spoilers related to the plot, characters, or key moments of 'Inside Out 2'. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet seen the movie and wish to avoid learning details before watching.

Inside Out 2 (2024) has been the talk of the town lately because the new emotion characters are so relatable.

After watching this much-awaited sequel to Inside Out (2015), many adults felt connected to the new character, Anxiety. Anxiety was so ready to help Riley cope with the changing needs as she enters puberty. She even felt like she was needed for her growth. Anxiety, in psychology, is a complex emotion as it serves as one's protector and motivator. At the same time, it causes us to panic and lose our sense of self.

^{Anxiety, one of the new characters in Inside Out 2}

"I plan for the future," Anxiety told Joy about her main role as an emotion. She was confident that Riley needed only the new emotions, which include Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui to survive high school. Part of her plan was to literally bottle up Riley's other emotions like Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. Somehow, they became Riley's suppressed emotions.

Here are 5 reasons why parents can relate with Anxiety, and lessons on handling this emotion:

5 Reasons why parents can relate with Inside Out 2's new character Anxiety

1. Parents experience many changes in their personal and family life.

Change is scary for Riley as she enters a new chapter: high school. After hearing that her friends will move to a different school, she can't seem to process it right away, which leads her to feel various emotions.

Just like Riley, who experienced this change, parents also encounter several milestones that require them to change—having a new baby, resigning from work, moving to a new house, and many more. Experts say that having a little anxiety can be good for you, as you can cope with these changes. "Anxiety evolved to help protect us. We need to recalibrate our level of anxiety to get it back to that level where it is super protective for us," said Wendy Suzuki, a professor of neural science and psychology at the Center for Neural Science at New York University, in an article by NPR.

Change will always be a part of someone's life. Sometimes, change even happens so fast in our lives. Anxiety can help us prepare for significant milestones. Good anxiety helps us become productive and adaptive.

2. Millennial parents feel pressured in so many aspects of their lives.

Parents in this generation feel pressured because of social media. We tend to compare our lives with others, even when we don't want to.

Jeffrey R. Holland, a Christian leader, once said, "It has been said that envy is the one sin to which no one readily confesses. As [other people] seem to grow larger in our sight, we think we must therefore be smaller. So, unfortunately, we occasionally act that way." This is why I think Envy, another new character in Inside Out 2, is portrayed smaller in height compared to the others. It's something that no one confesses to have. Envy can lead to deeper anxiety, so be careful about comparing yourselves.

3. Parents feel that they may not be good enough.

In the movie, Anxiety pushed Riley into believing that if she's good at hockey, she will have friends and she will never be alone. However, too much anxiety led her to feel like she wasn't good enough. Parents also feel the same thing—and mom guilt is an example of this. If you are a working mom, you feel like you're not a good mom. If you are a stay-at-home mom, you feel like you're just a stay-at-home mom. If we don't do certain things that society pressures us to do, we think we are not good enough. Dads may also feel pressured to provide for their family's needs, feeling they're not good enough.

4. Parents sometimes don't know how to cope with anxiety, the same way Joy can't stop Anxiety.

"I don't know how to stop Anxiety; maybe we can't. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up; you feel less joy," Joy said in one of the scenes when Disgust asked her what they would do next.

This scene hits hard. Sometimes, parents tend to feel less joy as they fulfill many responsibilities in life, letting only anxiety take part of our subconscious mind. But, as parents navigating life, we all know that these are just certain phases that we need to go through. It is but a short part of life, and each emotion is valid. Each emotion felt is one step forward to our growth.

5. Parents, especially moms, feel losing their sense of self as they embrace their new roles.

Riley almost lost her sense of self when she let Anxiety control her situations in life. Many moms have felt like they've lost their sense of self and identity when they gave birth. There were things they couldn't do anymore. They gave up some parts of who they once were so they could take care and nurture their family, but the truth is, motherhood isn't a hindrance to becoming the person we want to be. We can create breakthroughs in motherhood by connecting the gap between who we once were and who we can become, because in being a mom, we discover strengths we never thought we had.

After watching Inside Out 2, I realized how anxiety works—it tends to bottle up other emotions, forcing us to forget who we are. During the part when Riley was having a breakdown, parents could relate when we have moments where we snap and forget ourselves. It's as if you could not control anything, and you let the situation control you.

Being a parent in this generation can be overwhelming. The world provides abundant opportunities for one's growth, yet sometimes, we end up confused about which path to change or take. Just like Riley discovering her teenage years, parents are even more prone to having anxiety as they navigate parenting. However, we should always remember that our sense of self and our belief system can be our guide—our values—which will set us apart from everyone else.

When you feel overwhelmed, remember not to let these emotions control or define you. You are good enough.