Media & Mental Health
This emotion in Inside Out helps Riley reconnect with her parents by showing vulnerability.
What is Sadness?
Many men avoid therapy because they’re taught to “stay strong” and hide emotions.
What is toxic masculinity?
This hormone rises when you feel overwhelmed or stressed.
What is Cortisol?
College students often feel this when school, work, and life pile up at the same time.
What is Burnout?
Talking to a friend about how you really feel helps reduce stigma.
What is opening up?
This happens when viewers see their own feelings in a character and use that connection to understand themselves better.
What is emotional identification?
This happens when people judge someone for having mental health struggles.
What is Stigma?
These chemicals carry signals between brain cells and help regulate mood.
What are Neurotransmitters?
Many students feel pressured to take on too much at once, like school, work, and responsibilities. This overwhelming mix often leads to what?
What is Stress?
This Olympic gymnast sparked national conversations by speaking openly about anxiety.
Who is Simone Biles?
Inside Out shows memories changing color when emotions shift, representing this psychological idea that feelings shape how we store and recall events.
What is emotional memory?
Some families encourage keeping personal problems private to “not burden others,” especially in collectivist cultures.
What is family-based emotional pressure?
This system kicks in when you face danger and prepares your body for fight-or-flight.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
This type of stress builds slowly over time rather than all at once.
What is Chronic Stress?
When people share their feelings with a friend, teacher, or someone they trust, it helps them feel supported. This type of emotional support system is called what?
What is a support network?
When people use Inside Out clips, edits, or memes online to talk about stress, sadness, or anxiety, they’re using media as this kind of communication tool.
What is emotional expression through media?
People avoid sharing emotions because their culture encourages them to hide signs of stress or struggle.
What is Emotional Supression?
Long-term stress affects this part of the brain linked to learning and memory.
What is Hippocampus?
This unhealthy belief ties a person’s value to how much they achieve academically or professionally.
What is achievement-based self-worth?
This term describes publicly speaking about mental health to help others feel less alone.
What is advocacy?
Inside Out 2 shows Anxiety taking over Riley’s “control panel.” This mirrors what happens in the brain when this system becomes overly active during stress.
What is an overactive amygdala?
Some people think mental health struggles make someone “unstable” or “dangerous,” even though that’s not true. This is an example of a harmful what?
What is a Misconception?
This brain region handles fear and anxiety and is shown symbolically in both Inside Out movies.
What is Amygdala
When students feel guilty for resting or taking breaks, they are experiencing this unhealthy belief about productivity.
What is Productivity Guilt?
When someone shares a difficult experience and another person says, “I’ve been through that too,” it creates this powerful feeling of connection.
What is Validation?