We took the kids to see Inside Out 2 on a rare Monday night movie night. I had previously enjoyed the Inside Out franchise for trying to teach children about feelings and emotions and how to deal with them. For those of you who haven’t seen this before, it’s a great little kids movie from Disney/Pixar about a young girl and how the emotions in her head seem to compete for her time & control her every life moment; even sleep and dreams. Without giving too much away, Joy is the leader & works hard to reign in emotions like anger, fear, disgust, and sadness. In the first movie, there is a cute interplay in the mind of this little girl as she navigates the challenges of moving to a new town, going to a new school and making new friends, as well as all the awkward situations that ensue. The valuable lesson is that Joy cannot ALWAYS be in control, & sometimes Sadness has to take the wheel for a while. AND THAT’S OK!
I have always been a fan of this movie; however, Inside Out 2 brought the protagonist, Riley Anderson, into her teenage years where she has to grapple with a series of new emotions associated with puberty and generally growing up. There was a moment that really caught my attention in which one of the new emotions, Anxiety, took the wheel and was causing a full-fledged panic attack. At the center of the storm, anxiety was going so haywire that she was unable to even move. In fact, she was flying around the console as fast as an electron around a nucleus, so she couldn’t even be touched or controlled.
When confronted by Joy, she began to cry even though she was literally in hypersonic mode. Eventually, all the emotions were able to work together to regain control and establish a new hierarchy. One without any specific leader, but with a varied strata of heroes that come to the forefront only when they are most needed. This lends to a sense of self that is varied and multifaceted to meet the everyday challenges of life. Upon reviewing our favorite parts of the movie, I recounted the exact moment where anxiety was broken down and crying during a panic attack. How many of us can viscerally recount that exact moment, & how many of us feel that way at some point or another almost every single day?
I was given a quote from a local physician by a friend and coworker: “All of us have mental health issues. Some hide it better than others.” –Tom Heischmidt, MD. Sometimes, I tend to get lost in my own anxiety and forget that EVERYONE experiences these emotions; even and especially the most successful, famous, “put together”, and/or “important” members of this huge world in which we live. Many of us are crippled by anxiety or sadness, while some of us are motivated by these emotions, but it is important that we recognize the power that these emotions wield. This is exactly why I believe that Ketamine treatments play such a powerful role in the success of resetting the norms of mental health, as this drug increases the fibers that connect us and weave themselves into the fabric that comprises our sense of self. The power of Ketamine, however, strengthens these connections rather than numbing or dulling them. More traditional antidepressants/anxiolytics lend to a life without highs OR lows, and our emotions become apathetic couch potatoes sitting in the back of our brains. Life is supposed to be full of highs, lows, and “in-the-middle” times.
Ketamine allows (in fact, it makes more vivid) these sensations and emotions allowing us to use each unique feeling in perfect balance so that no one sensation can take control. We see in this movie the damage that can be done when one emotion gains too much power, & Ketamine is the Joy that brings halt to the strongest emotions and restores the balance that has so often been thrown to the abyss in the back side of the brain. I encourage anyone who reads this little stream of consciousness to go watch this children’s movie even if you have no children with you, and I hope you will feel as enlightened and empowered as I felt walking out into this difficult world knowing that we have all the tools we need to deal with them right inside our brains. We just need a little wave of the right medicine to get them back to the control tower.
Wherever you may be in your journey, I wish you success and happiness, and I hope that our staff at KetAssure may someday have the opportunity to take you on your own “Inside Out” journey!
KetAssure IV Infusion Clinic
1200 N 4th St.
Effingham, IL 62401
(217)-636-1444
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