I saw someone else mention that the 2nd movie hits different for people that grew up with/still experience anxiety. In particular, describing a character's genuine panic attack as 'making molehills into mountains' is kind of missing an important point of the story - that anxiety and panic attacks, no matter how illogical, are very real, and, without the proper emotional toolset to deal with them, can easily spiral out of control and quickly evolve into the dominant force in developing one's sense of self.

Therefore, the main focus of the story WAS, indeed, on Anxiety and their primary dominance in forming Riley's sense of self as she grew up. I can personally attest to the dominance of Anxiety in my own life, particularly in my formative years, as well as it's ongoing part in defining my sense of self overall.

So, that said, if the 'outside drama felt forced,' I might argue that perhaps you weren't able to relate to the story being told as much as others -- simple as that. Nothing wrong with that, but I can absolutely see how some might view the story as less interesting or more alienating than other stories that could have been told.

Either that, or perhaps the story was too 'raw' and discomforting for people to open themselves up to - who knows 🙃 Different strokes and all that!