Regulating Emotions with Inside Out

Have you ever felt that your brain is being controlled by five little creatures? 

Well, I have, and maybe it's true that, just like Riley's mind in Inside Out, our minds might also be controlled by five primary emotions: Sadness, Joy, Anger, Disgust, and Fear.  

Firstly, it is essential to understand that the mind and the brain are not the same. The brain is the physical organ found inside the skull, whereas the mind includes our thoughts, feelings, memories, and consciousness.

Imagine you are baking a cake; all the physical tools, such as bowls, ovens, whisks, etc., represent your brain structures. The ingredients, including flour, vanilla essence, chocolate, etc., are the resources your brain uses to function. But it's the mind like a creative baker that combines everything and decides how the final cake turns out.

In Inside Out, when Riley decides to run away, it is not just her brain making the decision; it is her mind making that decision based on feelings and thoughts that lead her to action. This shows us the power of our emotions and their impact on our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Psychologists call this the TFA Cycle. 

So, if all the choices we make are driven by our emotions, how can we make sure they don't control us? That's where regulating your emotions becomes very important.

Emotional regulation refers to understanding, managing, responding, and expressing emotions in a way that does not overwhelm you or harm others. It helps you stay calm, remain composed, and think clearly in overwhelming situations.

Before we learn about regulating emotions, it is essential to understand what these emotions mean and what role they have in our lives.

Each emotion has a purpose in our lives:

• Joy encourages us to connect, play, and form relationships, which are necessary for the process of socialisation and are key to survival in groups. It helps us find happiness in every moment. Joy motivates us to try new things, builds bonds with others, and makes life feel meaningful. 

Example: The excitement one feels when one gets a good grade or when someone praises them.

•  Sadness can be uncomfortable, but it plays an important role in helping us process loss or disappointment. It signals to ourselves and others that something important has changed, allowing us to reflect, learn from experiences, and seek support when we need it most. Sadness deepens our empathy and strengthens our relationships because it brings people together during tough times.

Example: The grief felt when someone dear passes away, or feeling upset when something unfair has happened in your life.

• Anger tells us when something is unfair, unjust, or threatening. It helps us stand up for ourselves. Just like every coin has two sides, so does anger; if left uncontrolled, it can have disastrous effects. However, it is essential for all humans because it empowers us to fight for change, set boundaries, and, most importantly, hold wrongdoers accountable.

Example: The frustration one feels when someone blames you for something you have not done, or when you cannot find a cab to get home after a long day.

• Fear protects us by helping us be alert at all times. It activates our body’s “fight or flight” response, preparing us to face challenges or avoid threats. According to Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection, because fear helped our ancestors, it has been passed down through generations.

Example: The nervousness one feels before giving an interview, or the fear of walking alone at night.

• Disgust warns us about things that are toxic, dirty, unhygienic, or morally wrong. It helps us to avoid eating spoiled food and also shapes our social quotient by guiding us to follow social norms, helping us build relationships. If left uncontrolled, it can lead to unfair judgments and prejudices.

Example: Feeling sickened and grossed out by the smell of rotten food or by seeing someone oppressed.

Have you ever wondered why each emotion in Inside Out has a specific colour? 

These colours are not randomly chosen because they look nice; they are based on colour psychology and are designed to trigger specific emotions among the audience.

While emotions are valid and important, we cannot let them control our lives. Just like Riley struggled when Joy sidelined her other emotions, we too face problems when we suppress emotions or ignore how we feel. In Inside Out, when Riley moved to San Francisco from Minnesota, Joy felt the urge to take full control to keep her happy and therefore did not allow her to process her emotions.

Joy literally drew a chalk circle and told Sadness to stay inside it, believing that keeping her away would fix everything. She pushed aside Fear, Anger and Disgust, believing that their reactions would only make things worse, when in fact Riley needed all of them. Joy constantly put a positive spin on every negative situation, even when things were clearly not okay. For example, when Riley was served broccoli pizza on her first day in San Francisco, Disgust clearly hated it and Anger was annoyed, but Joy jumped in and insisted they all stay positive.

 On Riley’s first day at her new school, when a core memory becomes sad and Riley starts crying in class, Joy panics and tries to stop Sadness from touching the memories, which results in both of them being ejected from Headquarters. 

With Joy gone and the remaining emotions unsure of how to handle things, Riley slowly became distant. Joy had always been the leader in Riley’s emotional world. So when Fear, Anger and Disgust were left in charge, they did not know how to respond in a healthy and balanced way. Each of them was used to handling specific situations, like danger or frustration, but none of them knew how to support Riley through deep emotional pain. They tried their best, but without Joy’s optimism and Sadness’s empathy, Riley felt disconnected, confused, and emotionally numb. She stopped to her parents, quit hockey, and even tried to run away. All of this shows us that ignoring difficult emotions doesn’t make them go away; it makes them louder inside us. 

Emotions aren’t something to fear or avoid; they’re there to guide us. Just like Riley, we all experience overwhelming moments where it feels like everything is happening too fast. However, by understanding our emotions and learning how to regulate them, we gain control over our mind's control panel. 

Well, we all know that life gets complicated when we grow up, and guess what, so do our emotions! So what happens when new emotions come into play?

Stay tuned to PsychLens, because in my next post, I'll explore how Inside Out 2 helps us understand and regulate those new emotions.

Saina Chakrabarti - Creator of PsychLens