Pixar’s Inside Out 2 was released in the summer of 2024, and was a major success.
It is a sequel to the 2015 hit, Inside Out, where a young girl’s five main emotions work together to help her navigate life’s challenges.
As a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), I couldn’t help but notice something; there are 5 main emotional characters in Inside Out:
…and the 5 main emotions that are considered for illness or health in traditional Chinese medicine are (1):
Four out of the five emotions from Inside Out occupy primary importance in traditional Chinese medicine. Is this a coincidence? What about the one that doesn’t match up?
In traditional Chinese medicine, long-term or very strong emotional imbalance is considered a potential source of illness, especially if it is held in, or not processed. Here are some examples of how someone’s health may be impacted by their emotions according to traditional Chinese medical theories:
It is normal and healthy to experience all of these emotions in life. Problems arise when we experience them at high intensity for a prolonged period of time, or if we don’t have the tools or support needed to process them.
In the case of Joy, some explanation is needed. Having Joy in your life is regarded as a very positive and healthy influence in traditional Chinese medicine. There can be problems though when the emotion is out of balance, and a better way to understood this is as overstimulation, and even craving (1) – be it drugs, alcohol, video games etc.
To help choose which emotions to include in the movie, the crew turned to psychologist Paul Ekman for assistance. According to director, Pete Docter, he initially suggested six basic emotions to them –the five they chose, plus surprise, which they felt was redundant seeing as fear was already on the list (2). Although there are a number of different theories in psychology relating to emotions, it seems that these four emotions (joy, sadness, anger, and fear) are often viewed as being fundamental.
In relation to Disgust, although this made the cut for Inside Out, it tends not to be an emotion that impacts on people’s health to the same degree as the other four from a traditional Chinese medical perspective. Worry on the other hand is a big one for many patients. Although it can relate to fear, sadness, and other emotions, it warranted its own mention as one of the top five in traditional Chinese medical theory due to how it can impact on people’s health.
So, what can you take away from all this? According to traditional Chinese medicine, your emotions can impact you physically – that might be muscular pains and stiffness or digestive trouble for example.
I always recommend that you see your GP first if you have health concerns, but sometimes the role of emotions is overlooked when there aren’t any other serious underlying health issues. A skilled traditional Chinese medicine practitioner will be on the look-out for even subtle emotional imbalances, amongst many other things, regardless of what problems you may be experiencing.
There are also, for example, many wonderful therapists and counsellors out there who are specially trained to help with emotional and mental difficulties. Traditional Chinese medicine does not replace the work that a skilled therapist or doctor will do.
Inside Out 2 gives us a fun glimpse at how our own emotions influence us, but what do you think? Have you experienced physical effects of significant emotional strain in your life? Do you think the movie does a good job of bringing the importance of emotions to life?
Seamus Fitzgerald, Réiteach Integrative Health.
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.
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