The Power of Sadness in Inside Out

You asked for an Inside Out episode, so here it is! Here's some science behind the message in the film. I tried to leave out any spoilers!
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BrainCraft is written and hosted by Vanessa Hill for PBS Digital Studios. Talking psychology, neuroscience & why we act the way we do.
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REFERENCES
Disney’s Reason and Emotion (1943) • Walt Disney's Reason a...
Inside Out trailer: • Inside Out Official Tr...
Adler, J. M., & Hershfield, H. E. (2012). Mixed emotional experience is associated with and precedes improvements in psychological well-being. PloS one, 7(4), e35633. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Berry, L. M., May, J., Andrade, J., & Kavanagh, D. (2010). Emotional and behavioral reaction to intrusive thoughts. Assessment, 17(1), 126-137. eprints.qut.edu.au/32858/1/c32...
Garland, E. L., Carter, K., Ropes, K., & Howard, M. O. (2012). Thought suppression, impaired regulation of urges, and Addiction-Stroop predict affect-modulated cue-reactivity among alcohol dependent adults. Biological psychology, 89(1), 87-93. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic...
Braniecka, A., Trzebińska, E., Dowgiert, A., & Wytykowska, A. (2014). Mixed Emotions and Coping: The Benefits of Secondary Emotions. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

[@chavamara]

This is why I get annoyed whenever people say, "Crying doesn't help anything." You do feel better after a good cry!

[@stephaniesmith3544]

I've always tried to pride myself as someone who controls their emotions well, and I've never really liked showing sadness because I guess I was brought up seeing it as a "weak" emotion to show. However, the movie does a great job of showing that you shouldn't suppress any emotions, but accept them as they come. To this day I still can't cry in front of others, but I'll do it alone where I can at least release the tension and avoid it building up and upsetting me more. People shouldn't view any emotions as "negative", but appreciate them as tools that help our mental states remain stable and healthy.

[@doberman7]

a loooong coment

[@stephaniesmith3544]

Ivan Rubio tl;dr

[@doberman7]

But i read it. not agree on everything but I read it. I wonder why did you take the time to share something so personal, I just noticed that and call my atention.

[@stephaniesmith3544]

Ivan Rubio It's not personal enough to be dangerous to share online. I shared it because I know people can relate. I wanted to make a point that sadness isn't "negative". :)

[@be4uni]

+Stephanie Smith cant even cry infront of myself

[@godlyzero]

Sometimes I let sadness take over my emotions. I enjoy it. I enjoy that it can only get happier from that moment, that things will get better. Also, Inside Out was a great movie. Loved it!

[@shanefife5639]

There are painful emotions and pleasant emotions. To say an emotion is bad or negative is to say that we as individuals are bad or negative. Emotions are very much a part of who we are. They communicate to us what cannot be said in words, or at least at first.

[@TylerMayMedia]

I'm glad you made this! More people need to be aware that sad emotions aren't negative. Understanding that is so helpful in dealing with things.

[@TheEpicMaxBaby]

Inside out is an accurate representation of our emotions, and how they represent our true selves. There are six basic emotions that everyone has, it is universal Our expression is determined by our ancestors, but others say that it is due to our experiences Inside out shows us the power of negative emotions, or sadness. Supressing negative thoughts lead to actually experiencing more of them, leading to other programmes. Mixed happy and sadness results in better well being. Negative emotions are what ultimately controls us. We are tough on sadness, but it determines who we really are. It the sadness that guides us.

[@durdleduc8520]

How come I don't exactly suppress negative thoughts (I cry everyday and it isn't even my fault) but negative thoughts and events are pretty much whenever a classmate walks in? Do you have any tips on this? Everyone thinks I'm seeking attention when I drive into tears, and it's all because that's what my teacher told everyone. My only true friend has lost her dad due to a divorce and is slowly slipping away from me.

[@kcwidman]

This channel has quality, interesting videos. I think that it deserves way more subscribers than it currently has. Keep it up Brain Craft‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[@drakan4769]

"used 5 out of the 6 emotions described in the research" poor surprise got left out of the movie...

[@angeliesalvebernardez8587]

***** Fear has a Twin.

[@0deadx21]

Drakan R They left Surprise out because the Emotion felt too similar to Fear.

[@angeliesalvebernardez8587]

0deadx21 like what I had said Fear and Surprise are Twin.

[@0deadx21]

Angelie Salve Bernardez No, they're not. Surprise is a combination of Joy and Fear, just like melancholy is a combination of Joy and Sadness. The emotions have no twins, except maybe their steroid selves which are Ecstacy, Despair, Prejudice, Terror and Rage. I know the name of every two-emotion combination that can be created with the five seperate emotions.

[@angeliesalvebernardez8587]

0deadx21 OK get it.

[@mandarinas1828]

(haven't finished the video, answering your question) no, they are not bad emotions, in my opinion. fear keeps us from doing stupid things, anger can keep us from letting someone hurt us... There's bad and good things each emotion can do, I guess...

[@ether5463]

I remember watching something where a guy said that anger wasn't an emotion, but a response. It seemed like a crazy idea, but the way he explained it made sense. Basically it was something along the lines of anger always being a product paired with other emotions, for example anger as a response to fear or sadness. Kinda interesting, wish I could remember the name of the guy though.

[@overdev1993]

Inside out was such a great movie. a very cool concept and a perfect implementation of it. its for kids and adults and have a powerfull message. its a really creative movie too. IMO the best animated movie so far.

[@brittanyr821]

Brilliant that you picked this topic I love it!! And the movie was everything for me.

[@ah_effe]

Your work is actually great!

[@kaisbenrhouma]

I discover you with Vsauce and now I became addicted :p

[@durdleduc8520]

Me2!

[@PeteNicholsonAnimation]

I watched Inside Out and remember thinking "Just get rid of sadness!"

[@Aryacrazya]

Pete Nicholson me too, didn't see how much she was valuable before the movie showed it

[@lis9211]

Pete Nicholson I was actually disappointed sadness was shown in such a bad light for so long into the film when all the other "negative" emotions had a meaning to them. Then I realized that it was actually very realistic because when you're 11 you hate being sad and you don't think that emotion is useful. I don't think it was done on purpose by the film makers but it still ends up making sense.

[@Megacooltommydee]

+lis9211 Well, to be fair, in the minds of most children, we always want to be joyful, even to the point that we try so hard to force joy in our emotional states.

[@sanguiVSdobbi]

+Pete Nicholson sad is good

[@povilasrackauskas857]

Great video, as always.

[@Kaneanite]

A new video every Thursday, except when its on a Friday.;p

[@braincraft]

***** Haha okay! How about... New videos every Thursday!* * ± 1 day and not when I'm on vacation.

[@rahtatpierre7611]

+BrainCraft lol

[@penguinheadd]

This explained them so well, both the movie plot and human psychology.

[@Mikeanglo]

Without sadness, happiness has no context or foundation to exist.

[@C0d0ps]

I'm sad that the video is over but, happy that there will be more :=)

[@Tschoo]

Whats notable is how this view of emotions guiding our emotions has only recently emerged from the history of ideas. For example the stoics in ancient greece thought that any strong emotion should be avoided to find tranquility. Or if we go further, into the age of enlightenment, reason was praised above everything else as the most important feature of mankind, while emotions where seen as distracting factors. But on the other hand we there are people who let themselves be guided by emotions too much, people who are angry, but can't control that anger or use it to their advantage. An interesting philosophical question would be: Should our emotions guide us at all times or should there sometimes be decisions made which run contrary to our emotions? Thanks for the video Vanessa!

[@Theraot]

There are no negative emotions, there are emotions that become destructive if they are left to run for too long.

[@gaiusbaltar4850]

Fear, surprise, anger and disgust should be combined because they're biologically similar. Nice way of saying, we don't yet understand our brain enough to explain the differences. I don't want to generalize, but some scientific corporations should remember that they only know more when they accept the fact that they know so little.

[@patton137]

What about simultaneous conflicting emotions? Could you be both angry and happy to see someone? What about love / hate relationships? What about people or things you love to hate, or hate to love?

[@gastonetcheverry5844]

It always takes me a couple of seconds to forget your beauty and focus on the content .

[@markokkare]

I just loved this video!

[@MonicaElysia16]

I really like inside out! It think it could be a great way to show an understanding of mental illnesses and gender. For example the mother's lead emotion is Sadness, maybe she had or has depression, but because all the other emotions are still in control too her 'sadness' isn't an overwhelming problem. Her father's lead emotion is Anger, maybe he has anger problems, but like the mother can control the anger problems, because the other emotions are at the controls too. But what if the other emotions weren't at the controls? They want to help, but the lead emotion won't let them? That could be a great way to explain mental illness. Also the mother's emotions were all female. The fathers were all male. But the main character, the child, had both male and female emotions. I have a theory that because of this, she is genderfluid. Once again an easy (and some what simplified) way of explaining gender.

[@Tschoo]

***** I don't know Monica, wouldn't your theory of male and female emotions then mean that you yourself can never be angry just because you are female? I'm male and I've been sad and depressed plenty of my life so I can't really see how this is supposed to work. I think its more plausible to argue that men and women just act their emotions out differently in different cultures. For me as a guy its hard to just break down and cry if I want to, because the expections I have to live up to are that of a "tough guy", especially among other men. Sadness and fear would open me up to ridicule. Thats why you cant be vulnerable as a guy, you cant be weak, or you'll be eaten up alive. Also, which woman wants to lean unto a man who is himself weak, confused and depressed? We have to be rocks, so we become rocks.

[@MonicaElysia16]

MrJoeRedford oh sorry thats not what i meant. What i meant was that every character in the mothers mind was female (even anger), and every character in the fathers mind was male (even joy and depression). What i meant was that the girls mind had mixed genders instead of all male or all female. Therefore she might feel mixed gendered. I didn't mean to suggest that emotions are gender based. Also the reason why i suggested the the father and mothers 'main emotions', is simply because they were at the head of the controls. If the mother had Anger, or the Father had Sadness, then i would have made a theory with the father having depression and the mother having anger issues.

[@Tschoo]

***** Alright, gotcha, sorry that I misunderstood you! Maybe I should watch the movie before commenting...

[@MonicaElysia16]

MrJoeRedford haha no worries! Yeah give it a go, its a gooden!

[@bananian]

Monica Martin can't believe people actually use the term gender fluid. lol

[@josenicolasvazquez9047]

Lady Stark is that you??? How did you survive the Red Wedding?

[@sk8rdman]

One of my initial reactions to the movie was that Disgust seemed like a pointless character. I didn't see any purpose to Disgust that couldn't just as well be served by Fear, or some other combination of the other emotions. Though I wouldn't be surprised to find that my disdain for her as a character is based largely on my bias against the personality used to depict her.

[@BarryKort]

When it comes to BrainCraft, my favorite emotions are Curiosity, Fascination, Perplexity, and Insight.

[@Mhurilo10]

I'm currently researching sadness and it's so frustrating to see that everywhere I look people are simply describing sadness as disadvantage and never looking for the actual results of each. Happiness has so much. Blood pressure research, bone marrow research, even chromium releasing NK cells. Sadness is just bad for you according to most researches and that makes me sad

[@junkyardmonkie]

I like you light through the prism necklace.

[@junkyardmonkie]

*your

[@khoaphan9130]

I love the Background music!! :)) Do any know its name?? :p

[@colunizator]

Sadness shows us how the world works in reality, makes us less naive and wiser. Suffering is your best teacher

[@icannotchoose]

I love these videos

[@XiaooLiaoo]

I love you watch your videos and this is just what my thoughts is. I watch DNews as well and everytime you play the background music on 2:30 it's make me think it's something about politics and it mess my brain up. Maybe this is an inside look of getting your videos out there better :) keep up the great work!

[@kurtreznor]

Wait, six? Then you list the 5 from the movie, plus...SURPRISE! I gasped less than a second before realizing the irony of doing so.

[@Illustrious_0307]

If someone says ''Men don't cry'' ignore him. Sadness is a very powerful emotion.

[@lyradicalunderscore3311]

Why all the dislikes? Well crafted video, good information, easy to understand, source material referenced. Anyone want to clue me in?

[@NoraKitties]

This was very interesting!

[@SayanurRahaman]

Wonderful Video!

[@gnumbernine7457]

I took my daughter to this movie. I cried the entire movie.

[@lanadelrey3821]

This is why Lana is my fav!! Sad girl forever!!

[@jonbilgutay2]

I disagree with the anger and disgust being in the same category. One can be briefly afraid by a sudden out burst (jump scares) but nobody has ever been so angry that they vomit.

[@wingzerofor]

It's debatable, psychology doesn't entirely equal concrete physiology, it's subjective. But kudos to the study of the mind/psyche.

[@aboodediriye7798]

i loved your videos thank you so much....can you please give us recommendations books to read about creativity and how we can be more creative ....and really liked your videos thank you so much

[@BlastEyesStudios]

I love inside out for this very reason

[@ewengoisot808]

once, I was both crying and laughing at the same time

[@GunnarWahl]

I feel this ignores a very important emotion, Boredom. Boredom is far from a lack of emotion, it itself is an emotional state, just a lack of concern, it, much like sadness is a state that sparks creativity and should not be over looked.

[@Theraot]

The fact that they didn't include surprise, is a surprise.

[@SierenH]

I have been suffering from depression sunce high school and have a problem with letting out emotions. I sometimes suppress them to the point I dont feel anything, and dont know how to make myself feel. This movie, and my favorite music band really help though

[@slugfiller]

What about hope and despair? Do those not count? And don't try to lump them with joy and sadness. They are very different, and result in different behavior.

[@jsephhd]

Beautiful

[@lindaemery6763]

The best part of this movie is the acceptance of anger. Love Lewis Black.

[@myLAwafflesflakes]

Thank you needed to hear that sadness is also good

[@supervoid2651]

Are other emotions supposed to just be a mix of those 6 basic emotions, like is jealousy just fear/disgust about another person?

[@explodingpineapple7471]

To be honest, I thought this video would be at least partly about why they gave Sadness and Sadness alone the power of "recolouring" memories...

[@annaczaplewska]

Hi, I am a psychologist and I was wondering if I could use your video on an Emotional Intelligence course I am running please?

[@martian_maddali]

As long as one doesn't claim the credit and make money out of it, one can use the content. At least, that's a fair policy. KZbinrs generally are happy when someone showcases their videos and gives the deserved credit as it'll eventually introduce them to more people and earn them more subs. So, I think, there won't any problem 🙂 Sorry, if I'm not meant to answer this 😐

[@somerledtihomir3265]

+Anna Czaplewska Dude don't ask questions like this here in this cancerous website it's fucking suicide

[@daysiflores2425]

Great videos :)

[@EverythingThereIs]

Emotions!

[@martinxXsuto]

the Joy the Sorrow the Fury the Fear the Pain the End

[@lucasfreeman9469]

I find that emotions in general cause irrationality. Intense happiness, sadness, anger, whatever: they all seem to make us less able to think reasonably. The less you feel, the more you consider.

[@kpinthebubble]

Are you Vulcan?

[@lucasfreeman9469]

@@kpinthebubble I was an edgy 19 year old when I wrote this I'm sorry

[@kpinthebubble]

@@lucasfreeman9469 lmao I’m surprised you even replied!

[@KingK_246]

Disgust should be a negative emotion. Why not? 💚

[@HaranYakir]

"There's always an upside" is such a cliche. And regretfully it's just wrong wrong wrong. (Not the video, the cliche)

[@notmyrealID]

***** the upside in dying is that i can finally sleep.

[@twfcfocmcpcu3crysis3]

Those who are blinded by emotions miss out on wats around them

[@Tschoo]

***** Well, the upside is that things normally can be even worse than they already are. The stoics called that "negative visualisation"

[@sacr3]

+King Bramble Wrong, we only enjoy sleep because we are comfortable before, we have a dream we're barely aware of, then we're comfortable and refreshed in the morning. The part where we're unconscious we're not aware of. Death is infinite nothingness, no blackness, no dreams, no awareness, no time, just nothing. Its not sleep, its oblivion. So that isn't an upside. The only upside to death in SOME circumstances is that if you're being tortured or you're in severe pain and can't live with it - death ends up all. You don't get relief because you're dead, but at least you're not wriggling around in pain.

[@JeremyWS]

If they ever make a sequel to _Inside Out_ they should include the emotion of Surprised as a new character. This is what I would do if I was them. It would bring in more kids and make the sequel more original. It would also reflect the science of emotions a little bit better. I like it when movies reflect real life better.

[@MyLifeAsLouis]

Who puts broccoli in pizza??

[@krishenbhatti]

Me

[@beembeem870]

disgusting like eww

[@michaelmaloney1746]

Great video looking at a rational explanation of emotions!!! Darwin was interested in that book for a reason. Emotions are fascinating. Another good book if the Emotional Life of your Brian by Richard Davidson.

[@Phrenotopia]

Just discovered this channel... Great stuff! I hope to be able to learn a lot and use this knowledge on my own channel. Although I may have to dial down on psychoanalytic theory, which is rather dated . ;-)

[@theminecraftwilliam176]

Hi

[@jg77516]

I still don't know what to do about depression or suicidal thoughts lol I thought I could watch that movie and it would help me but nope

[@gigglysamentz2021]

1:47 Omg opera singer out of nowhere ! =O

[@Jejeco]

Love the channel, but Paul Eckman stated 7 emotions - contempt being the missing one for the video.

[@Butter12321]

they were going to have suprise in the movie, but they cut it out

[@NamiBurger]

i dont really think i could classify surprise as an emotion. more like a feeling or way to further express your core emotions. like, im surprised bc you didnt show up like you always do (some form of sadness?) or, im surprised you got me this (joy)! . . . and if youre caught by surprise in the moment, i think its more a fear reaction. so good thing Disney left it out i guess lol i dont know how surprise would even be a fleshed out character :o

[@durdleduc8520]

I guess the character would be facinated by everything. "We got a new window." "Wow!!! I'm surprised you had time!!!"

[@NamiBurger]

+DancingCheese sounds like he would be Fear's cousin xDD

[@blueauraretriever]

all facts

[@comfyduck4248]

why does it say eight dislikes instead of 8 dislikes?

[@Ssure2]

Brocolli on your pizza, what an example...

[@RadicalEn010]

This too shall pass

[@GeethuVijayan-zj4tj]

uhm does she kinda look like the woman who played Catelyn Stark in GoT?

[@michaelwinter742]

Sadness isn't a feeling. It's an absence of feeling. Sometimes it's a bitter absence, like running out of gas. Sometimes the absence forces a shift from focused thought to diffuse thought, thus leading to "wisdom." Either way, sadness is a "rational" emotion, not a true emotion.

[@poojaekbote9236]

+Michael Winter I'd disagree. Sadness can be blinding, like in grief.

[@michaelwinter742]

Grief is not sadness. Grief is the first step in processing needs emotionally. The opposite of grief is processing needs socially. We call that "love." Of course, processing emotions socially is fear - so you have to be careful how you hack your mind. While you could try to change your needs (many try, but it's not possible), I think it's more successful to change your perspective on your sense of belonging (eg. conditional, mutual interest, servant leadership, etc.). When we recognize our belonging as conditional, eg. I only have a relationship with my mom when she is alive, then we grieve and are emotional. When we, instead, chose to serve our dead mom's memory, we are social and filled with love. The best way to change how we belong is by acting like we belong in the social group we want to love. This means that actions change belonging which changes our experience.

[@boi829]

What if you feel angry and sad at the same time

[@JoseCastillo-qu7kd]

Righteousness

[@AtheistK47]

That up side.. made me sad..

[@ojodeoro1106]

YES I DO

[@steveking6621]

An old homeless drunk we calls sarge when I was a kid once told me b careful if u know to much you stop caring so wise he was buried in a cardboard box that caskets came I n in I'll never forget him

[@minyoni4983]

Thinks for the arb sub

[@Egonkiller]

While intuitive this idea of all emotions being the combinations of 6 basic emotions doesn't hold for me. I'm not saying that they aren't basic emotions that helped us survive, far from that, but these experiments on a subjective event are probably rudimentary. Put someone depressed in a MRI machine "oh look this part of the brain is more active than the others" ; "oh look when he is excited the happy and surprised part are activated" or "oh look the same chemicals are released". It reminds me of Aristotle hypotheses about what things are made of... But I guess for now its the best I can expect.

[@theamazingguy150]

The sequel should have surprise

[@thatguy4176]

I thought there was 7 base emotions the last being content?

[@EETubex]

Awesome video and she has the sexiest voice

[@tommmmmm]

is she a sister of that other pbs guy? They sound so similar...

[@KydaIndie]

I honestly think that sadnesses purpose in the movie wasn't developed enough. It's like she was a thought that wasn't completely...

[@katiepopcakethegirlygirl9272]

+KD Brooke what are you talking about

[@steveking6621]

Okay yes u know best you never did yell me if it was that time month or 2 ytime month if I wind up on the wrong weekend it may never b rite so now u understand my concerns u gonna have b very FLEXABUL

[@cellogirl0096]

Really interesting - thanks!

[@tomhardy5578]

interesting

[@renatolopes6107]

Great video, but the lack of symmetry of your necklace mildly annoys me.

[@thescowlingschnauzer]

Inside Out seemed about as much like real psychology as "Someday my prince will come" seemed like real dating. More specifically... SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING ...in the end sadness creates community by compelling the Riley to share her feelings and her parents embrace her. But if I had stolen my parents' credit card and boarded a bus heading to another state then my parents would have reacted with shock, anger, fear, and feelings of betrayal. They certainly would have grounded me and made me do some work to earn back the money and had serious trust issues. The "happily ever after" implied in the movie just seems a gross simplification.

[@starbuckwhy]

you skipped herman's head. the 90's sitcom that insideout was (probably unintentionally) ripping off.

[@Sinking_Sunset]

Without sadness humans would be empathicless remorseless psychopath like beings. Mourning is essential otherwise love and death would only consist of happiness.

[@zorx77777]

1:26 monkey pog monkey pog

[@NeilSmithMusic]

In the movie, the girl had both male and female emotions in her, while at the end, all the adults have either strictly male OR female emotions according to their sex (watch it for yourself if you don't believe me). Does this mean the adolescent is still deciding her orientation? Is she predisposed to bisexuality? Things that make you go hmmm....

[@ThePeppazmint]

Neil Smith I noticed that too. I hope they get into that more in the sequel (there WILL be a sequel considering how great this movie did on sales) They hinted at 'puberty'. So I hope that they get into those emotions because that demographic has constantly been pushed aside in favor for more favorable heterosexual demographics.

[@NeilSmithMusic]

Just an observation. Wondering if someone was making a statement, if it doesn't mean anything at all or simply placed there to make conspiracy nuts' heads explode.

[@ThePeppazmint]

I would be okay if they choose not to explore that side of the human brain however I think it would be a safe and easy way to teach kids that not fitting into society's gender norms is okay. I see a lot of potential for the sequel if this is a path they choose to take

[@briandiehl9257]

@@ThePeppazmint "(there WILL be a sequel considering how great this movie did on sales)" I guess not, at least not for a long time

[@katalipsi5]

Vanessa your eyes are gorgeous . I just felt the need to say it.