‘Inside Out 2’ Shows That Anxiety Can Be a Hero, Not a Villain (Guest Column)

In May 2020, Pixar filmmakers invited me to collaborate with them as they began their work on “Inside Out 2.” They explained that in the sequel Riley would now be a teenager, and the action would begin with her “headquarters” being crashed by four new emotions, led by Anxiety.

As a clinician focused on population-level mental health, I was intrigued by the decision to center Anxiety in the sequel, given the tremendous power of movies to shift perception and shape conversation. Watching the story develop, I came to see that the Pixar team was crafting one of the most culturally significant films of this moment. Why? Because movies matter. Movies can change the way people look at things, see things. Movies impact how we see the world, and how we see ourselves. They build for us an imagined reality into which we try to situate ourselves, sometimes for the worse (we’re not actually superheroes no matter how much we wish we were) but often for the better.

We’re living in an age of anxiety. Worse yet, we’re weighed down by widespread confusion about anxiety. Anxiety, when understood and managed, can actually serve us in these complicated times. “Inside Out 2” tackles this head-on.

The movie’s first lesson is simple yet profound: anxiety may not feel good, but it often is good for us.

Early in the film, Riley goofs around in the hockey locker room with her friends. Anxiety, noticing the coach’s growing irritation, tries unsuccessfully to get Riley to knock off her antics. Riley ends up landing herself and the entire team in trouble. Anxiety did her job, and Riley would have been better off heeding her signal to correct course.

Whether it’s a looming deadline at the office or the awareness of a warming planet, that uncomfortable jab of anxiety is asking us to pay attention and take action, not to treat its mere arrival as the problem.

Of course, anxiety can sometimes go overboard, spiraling into what psychologists call “irrational anxiety.” This happens when we overestimate the threats our anxiety is flagging or underestimate our ability to manage them. On this, too, the film comes through with what needs to be understood: even against out-of-whack anxiety, we’re not powerless.

In one of the most arresting sequences, Joy, Fear, Anger, and Disgust discover Anxiety directing an army of “mind workers” to conjure worst-case scenarios. The scene cuts to Riley lying awake in her bed, tossing and turning as a parade of overblown worries marches through her mind. 

When I first watched this, I gasped as Disgust exclaimed, “Oh no! They’re using Riley’s imagination against her.” I’ve never encountered a more fitting description of irrational anxiety in my 30 years as a psychologist. It’s a clear and simple reminder that we have the power to question the dreadful scenarios our minds think up and put ourselves back in the driver’s seat.

Further to its credit, “Inside Out 2” doesn’t hold back and in the end confronts us with anxiety that has gone fully off the rails. In the film’s climax, Riley is sent to the penalty box for rough play. Regretful, worried, and ashamed, she is soon engulfed by a full-blown panic attack.

While some emotional discomfort is useful (feeling uneasy about our errors can keep us from repeating them), out-of-control anxiety like this does no good, and people who suffer from it deserve the support of clinical care. That said, the scene itself has its benefits. I have heard from countless people that watching this powerful depiction of a panic attack onscreen helped them to feel less isolated in their own bouts of overwhelming anxiety, and as a result more able to keep them in perspective.

From there, the film concludes with what I consider an ideal takeaway: even after Anxiety has caused Riley such distress, far from being given the cold shoulder, she is welcomed back to headquarters—with conditions. Joy offers her a comfortable chair, a warm cup of tea, and gentle reassurance as she spouts off a series of irrational concerns. But when Anxiety says “Oh! Riley has a Spanish test tomorrow. We need to study!” Joy shifts gears and values her contribution. Anxiety is present, but managed; she has a say, but not the only say; she has a job, and it’s one that the other emotions understand. 

One of the great delights in being included in the project was that I got to watch the character of Anxiety meticulously honed toward what the film needed her to be. With precisely enough zippiness to put the viewer on edge, she’s at once annoying and adorable. But most critically, she’s no villain. And with its massive success, “Inside Out 2” is helping a huge audience move past regarding anxiety simply as a bad guy, in a way that all the psychologists in the world working together never could.

Lisa Damour, PhD is a psychologist and the author of three New York Times bestsellers: “Untangled,” “Under Pressure” and “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.” She served as a consultant on “Inside Out 2.”