So I was very late to the Encanto party and only watched it last weekend (April 2nd) with my 6 year old son. Fortunately for me, he has ensured we have made up for lost time by watching it every day since then (three days on the trot!), with the soundtrack on repeat on every car journey, on Alexa in the house & even played on phones at bathtime. There is no escape from not talking about Bruno it seems. Whilst watching the film & enjoying the soundtrack, it made me think of the recent training I completed as a mental health first aider. So I thought I'd write about mental health, the thing people don't talk about in the same way 'we don't talk about Bruno' as the film's title hit espouses, and how Encanto's characters reflect us & people we know who might be struggling. It turns out I wasn't the first one to think of this as a quick google search shows. Even if you haven't seen the film, you can see in the picture below that on the surface everything seems happy, cheerful and the bright colours encapsulate a seemingly happy Disney mood. However under the surface things are not as they seem, as the character Luisa lets us know about when she sings about 'Surface Pressure'. We all need to talk about mental health as everyone struggles in their own way in life & in the same way everything seems perfect in the Madrigal family world in Encanto, all is not as it seems for individuals we come into contact with everyday.
Encanto & Mental Health
The Mental Health First Aid course was designed to give people confidence in helping those who might need help in the workplace, in the same way you complete a First Aid course to help someone with an injury. The difference being that mental health isn't as easy to diagnose, spot or treat as a visible injury. In this sense it relies on the mental health first aider (or any concerned friend/colleague/family/stranger) to approach the person & check they are ok. The model is to Approach, Listen, Give support and then Encourage the individual to seek appropriate help.
Essentially a mental health first aider is not supposed to have all the answers, but to be there to listen, support & to direct to the right professional support. Being better informed helps you know how you can help & I would encourage all workplaces to have a mental health first aider. Stress is ranked second as one of the main causes of long term sickness in the workplace. If the symptoms can be spotted & addressed early it can be prevented & many people live happy lives with a severe diagnosis of mental illness. I'd encourage all to try to be there to listen to an individual & understand what an individual is going through. It is why I am such an advocate of
coaching as a tool to understand each other as it teaches how to listen & ask better questions. According to an NHS England report 1 person in 4 will experience some form of mental health issue in any given year. We all know someone struggling, we all struggle in some form at some point & experience stress, some are just better equipped to handle it than others or have the appropriate safeguards in place. A nice explanation of what stress is and how to deal with it is found in this
stress container graphic. In short, if we feel stress we need to alleviate it by doing something about it e.g. sleeping better, doing an activity or talking to someone. Sometimes we know what we need to do but just need a nudge from a friend.
What can we learn from Encanto about mental health issues?
These 5 key characters all teach us something, I'm going to go through each one discussing their surface level presentation, what is under the surface for them & what we can learn from this.
Character: Mirabel Madrigal
On the surface: She is 'fine' & tells everyone she is 'fine' despite not being given a gift like her siblings. Keeps herself busy helping her family.
Under the surface: She is 'not fine' as she admits in her song 'waiting on a miracle' where she focuses on what she can't do: "I can't move the mountains / I can't make the flowers bloom".
What we learn: We all get into a negative cycle when we focus on what we can't do, rather than what we can. It is natural also to compare ourselves to others (especially when siblings are shining), but this can lead to negative thoughts. There is a song by Cast called
'Live the dream' (an oldie but a goodie) which has a line
'someone will always be, more than I'll ever be, so then I'll be myself'. Someone will always be better than you at something, but you are also better than someone else at something by the same token - so be yourself! We all shine in different ways & Mirabel does shine in the end by bringing the whole family together.
Character: Isabela Madrigal
On the surface: 'She's a perfect golden child' as Mirabel describes her. Everything is perfect. She's happy.
Under the surface: She's 'been stuck being perfect [her] entire life' & 'so much hides behind [her] smile'. She has been conforming to other people's expectations of her rather than doing what she wants to do.
What we learn: Outward appearances can be deceptive. Mirabel thought that Isabela's life was a dream, but she was unhappy. Mirabel only learnt this when she actually spoke to Isabela & tried to apologise. It then all came out. So much hides behind all our smiles & sometimes someone can seem mean to us as they are struggling with something. We all know a character like Isabela who we think has a perfect life. Do they really?
Character: Luisa Madrigal
On the surface: Luisa is the 'strong one', she's 'not nervous' & is 'tough' whilst busy sorting all the issues of the town & family.
Under the surface: This is brilliantly explained in her song 'Surface Pressure' (my favourite FYI) where she reveals to Mirabel that 'Under the surface I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service'. She is unhappy as she feels the weight of pressure to always serve others & feels like she can never do enough.
What we learn: Luisa is the archetypal person we know who always does too much & doesn't look after their own mental health. She never takes a break & as a consequence it all gets too much for her. Everyone thinks she is the strong one & is coping. But once again Mirabel is the one to get it out of her by talking to her & she reveals how she is feeling & hugs Mirabel. In Luisa's own words in her song: 'But wait, if I could shake, the crushing weight / Of expectations, would that free some room up for joy / Or relaxation, or simple pleasure?'. Talking to others can help shed some of the anxiety she feels & at the end we see her take comfort from the fact that others also cry later in the story & even see her relaxing with a cocktail on a hammock. We all need balance in our life & to relax on occasion.
Character: Alma Madrigal
On the surface: The Matriarch who is always well presented, happy & in control. She does everything for the family & 'runs the show'
Under the surface: Struggling with the trauma of the loss of her husband
What we learn: That even those who seem in control can be masking issues that directly affect how they behave today. She is consumed by fear of loss (of the magic), propelled by the trauma of the tragic loss of her husband & this stops her appreciating what is important & in front of her. Forcing her family to do what she thinks is best for the family (rather than themselves) & ultimately driving her son away for fear of letting down the family. It takes a confrontation with Mirabel for her to realise & face up to her trauma. As a mental health first aider I wouldn't recommend shouting at Alma telling her she is the reason for the cracks in the family! But approaching her, supporting her & talking about the struggles she faced rather than focusing on the miracle would be a start.
Character: Bruno Madrigal
On the surface: From the family perspective he is not spoken about as he has 'lost his way'. They are ashamed of him. From his perspective he is a hermit, running away as he feels like a failure as he doesn't know how to serve the family with his skills.
Under the surface: He loves & misses his family & just wants to be useful to the family.
What we learn: That we should try to understand people's reasons for withdrawing, it's not always why we think it is (or assume it is). Again it took Mirabel actively seeking Bruno out to bring him back in from the shadows. If he had known he was valued & wasn't so concerned about meeting family expectations, would he have stayed rather than running away? I would assume so. We should talk about characters like Bruno & mental health in general to help us all lead a happier life rather than burying our issues beneath the surface.
I hope you have found this blog helpful, useful or interesting (or all three ideally!). All we can do is listen, try to understand & do our best to help those around us, remembering that what is on the surface might not represent what is going on beneath & trying to be mindful of this. I will leave you with one tip I think is really useful to calm someone struggling with anxiety or having a panic attack - the 5,4,3,2,1 technique:
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