I have always found the disney movie Frozen fun to watch and sing along to, but I recently re-watched this animated hit and the movie took on a whole new meaning for me. Struggling with a mental illness myself, I have started to look at the world differently and what I noticed when I watched one of my favorite movies was that Frozen is a perfect example of living with a mental illness.
Elsa is born with icy powers that don’t affect her much in her early years in a negative way, but as she gets older, she begins to fear them. Elsa accidentally hurts her younger sister, Anna, and now she is scared to put her in any more danger. Her parents fear the same thing, so instead of helping her learn to control and use her powers in a positive way, they isolate Elsa and teach her to hide her powers. Instead of learning how to control them, Elsa fears her powers and herself. She doesn’t spend time with people because she is too afraid that she will hurt them. The isolation itself hurts Elsa, but she doesn’t know a better solution. Anna doesn’t understand why Elsa has shut her out, but Elsa feels that it is necessary to protect her sister.
I am sure that many of us can relate to Elsa when we replace her powers with a mental illness. It is something that we are born with (usually, but some can be developed over time) and have no control over. It doesn’t seem to affect us too much in our early years, but as we grow older our illness grows and suddenly we are faced with a monster inside of ourselves. For me personally, I love spending time with people but I am also scared of people and of hurting others (I know I’m a paradox). I try and live a normal life but honestly, almost every day is a roller coaster of feeling like I am worthless and wanting be done with this life and then feeling motivated to work hard and loving life and they cycle continuous back and forth all day.
So I can relate to when Elsa is scared of her powers and trapped inside her own room because sometimes I am scared of my own feelings and thoughts. I am having mental breakdowns and panic attacks almost daily. And most of the time, no one is contributing to these feelings, they are simply a battle that I am having with myself everyday. I am often scared to spend time with people because I don’t always know how I will react to the situation or if I will suddenly lose control and have a breakdown. I can understand Elsa’s pain in trying to conceal and not feel her powers to try and live a normal, happy life. And I can relate to when she has panic attacks and runs off too. I have similar struggles that I face every day when I go out into the world. I just want to fit in and be happy like everybody else.
Anna is a good representation of the friends and family in our life who mean well, but don’t understand our mental illness or even know that we have it. She is loving and just trying to help Elsa have fun and strengthen their relationship, just like our family and friends do with us. And once she discovers Elsa’s secret, Anna doesn’t run in the other direction or give up on her. But she goes to help her sister and always believes in her, even when she makes mistakes and lashes out. Because she knows that Elsa has a good heart and is just learning how to control her powers. True friends and family will love us despite our shortcomings and even with our mental illness. And they will be there through the good and bad times of learning how to control and live with our disease. They won’t abandon us and they will always believe in us.
That is the end of my Frozen analogy. I hope this gave you a new insight to an awesome movie and made it even more relatable. I just want to end by saying that living with a mental illness can be tough, but you can do this! I know that turning to God is what has helped me to make it this far and bring a smile to my face despite all of the hard times and I know that He is always there for you too. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each and every one of us immensely and they are always there waiting to help us. Christ experienced everything we could possibly go through on this mortal earth, so He truly does understand exactly how we are feeling. Turn to the Lord in your trials and He will offer you the relief that you need and give you the strength to keep pressing on. I know that He does that for me each and every day.
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