How I Learned To ‘Let It Go’ With The Help Of Disney’s ‘Frozen’

January, 14 2015

I’ve struggled for years with depression and anxiety for lots of different reasons, but sometimes, weeks or months are a little harder than others.

In early 2014 I had a really rough patch where I didn’t want to leave the house and felt really, truly down. Gee whizz did I get through a lot of films and TV series binges in that time! Frozen had just recently come out and a few friends had suggested I watch it and that it might be a nice bit of light relief. I think I got through the first 5 minutes initially before turning it off and dismissing it as rubbish. But the songs, those songs! They were everywhere! And before long I felt like I really should see what the fuss was all about! Turns out it was brilliant (and my idea of a good film normally is either something pretentious with subtitles or Brick) but we’re all entitled to a guilty pleasure and this is well and truly mine. Not only did I enjoy it as it brought a smile to my face, but I couldn’t get enough of the brilliant songs and the powerful relationships and messages laced throughout. In my wildest dreams I never thought I’d be the sort of person using a Disney film as a metaphor for moving on from depression and extolling the virtues of Elsa and Ana’s plight…but here I am!

PS. If you haven’t seen it then I recommend you do or this post isn’t going to make much sense…

What I found interesting in Frozen is that there are no real villains (although I guess you could make a case for that nasty Hans chap!) The real problems that drive the plot are Elsa’s fear of being discovered and her shame at her past and her abilities. We’ve all been there – whether it’s worrying how we compare to others, or fear of being weird and different.

I see so much of my own problems in Elsa (even though others probably see me as more of an Olaf…). Growing up, I was bullied badly in school and I struggled to fit in. I would often try to blend into the background and not bother people with my problems.

In the song ‘Let It Go’ the “Conceal don’t feel” mantra is something that I definitely forced my mind into thinking. But years on when I still struggle with low self-esteem and am haunted by thoughts of school days horror, I think about how really, I just want to let all of that go. I don’t want to carry around my shame and hurt. I want to return to the lively and strong person I was before the bullying, just like Elsa when she was a child. As Elsa grows and struggles to hide her true self I saw so much of my teen years reflected back at me on the screen. Elsa’s ice powers to me represented my clumsiness, awkwardness and negativity. I saw how I too felt I wanted to distance myself from friends and family at times to protect them from my depressive self. I too felt alone, unique and misunderstood.

When it comes to the big musical number of the film, you feel a rush of reckless self-empowerment and think “Corr I wish I had donned a fancy-pants dress and had a good bellow in the back garden to help me get over everything!” But jokes aside, because I want to let go of the past, I feel I’m owed a moment of empowerment too where I say “Screw fear and shame, I’m going to be myself and that is pretty powerful” because actually being yourself is about the raddest thing you can be.

When Elsa’s powers are revealed, everyone acts shocked but she doesn’t give anyone a chance to react or accept and immediately does a runner. She assumes her powers are negative and I feel like a parallel could be drawn with the way we deal with mental health. We don’t talk about our feelings enough or what we’re going through for fear of being judged. If we develop communities of supportive and open people then maybe we won’t feel so isolated. I think it’s crucial to have someone in your life that you can open up to so you’re not bottling up your feelings all the time. This could be a parent, teacher, good friend or professional help like a counsellor or therapist. For me it was my younger sister. I know I can talk to her, and it has never helped to push her away in an Elsa fashion as she’ll just persist in checking up on me and trying to cheer me up, just like Ana!

When Elsa sings ‘Let It Go’ she is almost pretending to have shaken off all her problems. The flipside is that she’s isolated herself even more and blanketed her kingdom in deep snow. She makes excuses and sees resolution to her problems in the wrong places. Like when we are struggling and we say ‘I’ll be less stressed when I finish my exams’ and ‘I’ll be happier when I’ve got more money’, or ‘I’ll be better if I move to a different social group’. Really we need to address things here and now – resolve problems and then let them go.

As well as talking to someone you trust, taking time to think about your problems and then letting them go is a good way to try and cope. Meditating or even just relaxing and sorting through what is going on in your head can help you come to a clear solution. Deal with the issue and then don’t pay it any more attention. Quite literally ‘let it go’. There’s nothing worse than over thinking a situation, or always assuming the worst and stressing over something that you can’t do anything about. I am such a stressy person and everyone always teases me about it, so now I will quietly, to myself (or loudly to everyone around), sing a few lines of ‘Let It Go’ to alleviate tension and make myself laugh when Im feeling anxious or stressed. Sometimes a good giggle at yourself is all you need to realise you’re taking things too seriously.

Frozen can mean so many different things to different people and there are tonnes of articles online about the film being a metaphor for feminism, coming out, or even Christianity. To me it was an entertaining watch that made me think about my relationship with my little sister. It reminded me to appreciate and look after her and gave me something to focus on when trying to overcome my mental health issues. I could no longer keep myself isolated but instead knew I had to confront my problems, get some help from a counsellor and accept myself. Sometimes relief and guidance comes from the simplest of things. Sometimes you really do just need to let things go.

Now, I’m off to build a snowman…

– Hannah



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