Learning to Let the Past Go – Mental Health Tips from Disney’s Frozen

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This is the first of hopefully many Disney-inspired mental health blogs. When we look closely at movies, we can find many hidden messages and tips to keep track of our mental health. Lyric credits go to composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Disney.

NOTE: There may be spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie I would wait to read the blog.

The past is pretty important, but not so important that it has to define your entire life. Working in the mental health care industry, I see lots of people every day who come in because their past has caught up with them. People often get anxiety and depression from difficulties in the past. Dark feelings happen because the past is such an insurmountable obstacle in the way of their recovery.

Disney’s Frozen is about to be released onto DVD. Frozen has some pretty important lessons and examples about overcoming the past. Elsa, one of the main characters, was born with a curse that causes her to freezes things she touches. Elsa can also create storms and ice/snow when her emotions get the best of her. Growing up she was told to “conceal it” and “hide” this power. As a result she spent the majority of her years locked inside of her own room for fear of her power. After her parents pass away and she inherits the throne and becomes the queen. The fear of becoming a queen and an accidental outburst cause her curse to become known to the world. The rest of the movie is spent watching Elsa learn to cope with her power and let her fears and worries about it go. Elsa gradually learns to accept herself and let others in. Here are some tips to let our own damaging past go as learned from Elsa in Disney’s Frozen.

1) Acknowledge the past – Acknowledge that it happened. Accept it. It’s a part of who you are and you can’t go back and change it, but you can move on. Don’t ruminate on the past because you’ll continue to be stuck, but instead let yourself move forward. Elsa’s biggest point of change in the movie was when she acknowledged that the past happened and that she had fears. Once she gained that acceptance we saw her start to move on and gain gradual confidence in herself and a sense of freedom. Just “Let it Go.”

2) Learn from the past – Even if your past is riddled with immense trauma and emotional pain there had to be something gained from the past. People with a lot in the past can be some of the strongest people. What lesson did you learn from your experience? How did this shape you for the better? Elsa learned that she was a strong person and the “cold never bothered her anyways.”

3) Use support systems – I personally feel like this is the most important part of moving forward. Learn that you don’t have to handle this all by yourself. There are professionals around as well as other supports such as friends and family that will always be there for you. Elsa was only able to learn how to reverse the winter after she realized the support she had from her sister. Without her sister, Anna, showing her sacrifice for her and what Elsa meant to her, the full extent of Elsa’s self-acceptance wouldn’t be possible.

4) Focus on others rather than yourself – Sometimes if we take the focus off ourselves it helps. As I mentioned in tip number one – don’t ruminate and solely focus on yourself. Focusing more on others or helping someone else will help you just as much. Elsa was incredibly happy in the end when she was “opening the gates” and making the villagers and her sister happy.

5) Start over but take things slow – Change is always possible even if you have made a million mistakes. There is always room for change. It is never too late to start over and move on from the past. It is also a gradual process. Elsa moved on, but she moved on slowly. Things unfortunately did not change for her instantly. Elsa accepted herself, her powers, the help and love of her sister, and started a new life over. Just like Elsa and many others who have let their past go, you can do the same and move on and start over.

Elsa's song "Let it Go" can also be a great source of constant strength and inspiration. Just remember that you are in control if your future and it should not be dictated by your past. Move on. Be your own person. Everyone has that strength and ability, you just have to let yourself believe. 

6 Steps to Calm Your Anxiety

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There are about 9.5 million people in the United States alone that suffer from anxiety. Anxiety is an intense state of worry or stress. Everyone experiences anxiety to some degree or another, but there are also times when anxiety becomes too overwhelming for one person to handle. This exercise can help you with any amount of anxiety.

Each section has a few questions. Be sure to write your answers down and keep a record. Do this exercise multiple times, not just once to really start to understand and then regain control of your anxiety.

1. Understand the Situation

Ask yourself questions such as: what is happening? where are you? who are you with? 

After writing down your answers over time you might notice that certain situations are similar or many of the same people might be involved in your severe anxiety states. Once you find a similar pattern you might be able to make some life changes surrounding certain situations and people. Hopefully you might be able to complete get rid of certain anxious situations, but if not you can learn ways to calm your anxiety before you go into these situations. 

2. Process your Emotions

Questions: What emotions are you feeling right now? What is the intensity level of your emotion on a scale of 0% to 100%.

Emotions affect your thinking, behavior, and actions. Emotions and feelings are incredibly powerful and a lot of people tend to cover them. These emotions have an important purpose of sending us a message. By processing and understanding your emotions you will become to understand your anxiety and yourself a lot better. One important thing to remember is do not bottle your emotions but process them because too many intense emotions make your anxiety worse.

3. Notice What’s Happening in your Body

Notice what is exactly happening to your body right now? Where are you feeling your anxiety? What happens to you normally and what might be different about your body specifically in this situation?

Our bodies react to everything that happens to us. Anxiety might even affect you the most in your body and create severe physical and even painful effects. By understanding your body you can take control of individual anxiety symptoms by knowing how your body responds and then how to combat each and every symptom.

4. Think about the Unhelpful Thoughts

Ask these questions: What is going through your mind? What is disturbing me? What do these thoughts mean to me? What do these thoughts say about me in this situation? What am I responding to? What ‘button’ is this pressing for me? What is the worst thing that could happen from this situation?

These are the thoughts that probably plague your mind the most. These thoughts are also the underlying and typically unstated thoughts. Make sure that you are truly understanding and processing every aspect of this situation as well as the underlying thoughts about it. The unhelpful thoughts can hurt us the most and by processing these thoughts you can get to the root of the problem and make necessary changes to alleviate these thoughts in the future.

5. Create a Balance Perspective

Use these questions: Is this fact or opinion? What would someone else say about this situation? What’s the bigger picture? Is there another way of looking at this situation? What advice would I give someone else in the same position? Is my reaction proportional to the actual event? Is this really as important as it seems?

It’s the unhelpful thoughts that really exacerbate the anxiety; these questions above can help you balance out or even possibly get rid of your anxiety all together. Create a balanced perspective about what is making you anxious. Think about both sides of this situation. Normalize what is happening for yourself. For example, if social situations are what cause you anxiety think to yourself “Of course I’m anxious about talking to a large group of people! This is a scary thing! But just like every other time, I can channel my anxiety and turn it into a positive and get through this one meeting. Then everything can go back to normal.” Balance is where you can take control of your anxiety.

6. Understand How You Handled the Situation

While you are in the moment ask yourself: How am I handling the situation? What are the consequences?

This is where you would decide to act. Really think carefully about how you are currently handling the situation. Learn to take control enough that you can analyze both the good and bad consequences of your behavior in response to the situation.

After when the situation is over and in a non-anxious state ask: What could I have done more effectively to contain my anxiety? What things might be more effective in the future?

Learn to handle anxiety in different ways. Research others ways people have handled their anxiety and try it out for yourself. By trying a myriad of ways to control your anxiety you might find ways that help you or other ways that aren’t as helpful. Do what works for you!

By using these 6 steps in severe anxiety situations, making a record, and answering each question you will slowly be able to regain control of your anxiety. Continued practice will make this process easier each time you complete these questions.