Major Depressive Disorder In Inside Out

942 Words2 Pages

Inside Out, a movie produced by Pixar Animation Studios in 2015, follows the story of Riley Andersen, a young girl experiencing a move to a new city. In the movie, Riley exhibits symptoms of major depressive disorder Riley grew up with her parents in Minnesota, having many joyous childhood memories such as playing hockey and enjoying time with friends. At age 11, Riley’s family moves to San Francisco, California for her father’s new business. Already being skeptical of the move to begin with, Riley beings to have a series of bad first impressions with the move; the house they move into appears old and cramped, the moving van with all of their belongings drives to the wrong place, her father becomes very stressed from his new job, and embarrassing …show more content…

Viewers can assume that Riley’s distress lasted at least two weeks as they moved and significant events occurred within the story; but, the actual length of time is unclear. According to DSM-5 criteria, symptoms of major depressive disorder must be displayed for two weeks to be diagnosed as so; therefore, if Riley’s symptoms did not last two weeks, she did not have major depressive disorder. People who actually suffer from this disorder can experience these symptoms anywhere from two weeks to around a year. At the end of the movie, it cuts to a year in the future, and Riley has settled and adjusted to her new home, now much more happy and joyous. Although Riley’s timeline is a little unclear, it can be assumed that her symptoms lasted at least two weeks. Other than this, Riley’s symptoms remained pretty accurate to the DSM-5 criteria people experience with this illness, which lead to the diagnosis of major depressive …show more content…

The goal of cognitive-behavioral treatment is to adapt the patient’s thoughts; as Riley is thinking of how she is failing to deal with the present situation she is in, this treatment will help her change this thinking. In this treatment, Riley’s patterns of thinking would be recognized over a series of appointments, and the clinician would then identify different ways of viewing the same situations Riley has been dealing with, making them not as dysfunctional for her. As well as cognitive-behavioral treatment, physical activity can also combat depression because it releases endorphins; this treatment would be accessible to Riley, and it is something that can be self-initiated as well as encouraged by her parents. These treatments would be ideal for Riley as they encourage her to better her illness without antidepressants since she is so

Open Document