Actress Kristen Bell has 'no shame' in dealing with anxiety and depression

I have always thought of actress Kristen Bell as my "spirit animal." She grew up in Oakland County, graduated from a Catholic high school and seems like a genuinely kind person who puts others' needs before her own.

Today I learned that I have something else in common with Bell. She also suffers from anxiety, and, in an interview with The Off Camera Show, she came forward to talk about this. Hearing her talk about her struggles, it was as if she was inside my head.

"I struggled a lot with anxiety and depression. ... I have no shame in that," she told host Sam Jones. "I genuinely feel like I'm going to cry over everything and that I'm going to explode."

Bell, who describes herself as "emphatic to a fault," said that one of the things she gets most anxious about is rejection (I completely know how you feel, Kristen).

"I shatter a little bit when I think people don't like me. That's part of why I lead with kindness and compensate by being very bubbly all the time. It really hurts my feelings when I'm not liked," she said.

Bell told Jones during the interview that she has taken medication since her late teens.

"In the medical community, you would never deny a diabetic his insulin ever.  But, for some reason, when someone needs a serotonin inhibitor, they're immediately 'crazy.' It's a very interesting double standard," she said.

If possible, Kristen Bell's bravery in talking about her struggles with depression and anxiety made me like her even more. She shows that, even with people who seem happy all the time, you never know what they are dealing with underneath the surface. It's people like Bell who, little by little, help to shatter the stigma surrounding mental illness.

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  2. Wonderful post! As Kristen, I've been on anxiety/depression medication since my early 20's, to present. Most people do not Wonderful post! As Kristen, I've been on anxiety/depression medication since my early 20's, to present. 40 million adults, just in the US, suffer from some type of anxiety and depression. Like Kristen, I am not ashamed of my condition, and not let it rule my life. Small world- went to Junior High with Dax. Kristen is an inspiration to us all battling with these conditions. God Bless
    Her !! (Jennifer Bunker) that 40 million adults, just in the US, suffer from some type of anxiety and depression. Like Kristen, I am not ashamed of my condition, and not let it rule my life. However project the bubbly, happy outward appearance, but inside completely opposite. My mother was Bi-Polar, depression, and manic depressive. Like Kristen said, conditions like this can be passed down, woman to woman. Both of my sisters also suffer from types of similar conditions. I had to take several boyfriends to my doctor, so they could be educated on my conditions, and once your brain re-wired, it can never go back, and Doctor said flat out, most people with these conditions may have to be on medication for life. Then boyfriends stopped bothering me on why I had to be on mediation and why can't I just stop taking them!!! She is right about that, uneducated people come to conclusions that are so off base, and deem all that take serotonin based medication are plain
    crazy. (Which is really sad...)
    *Small world- went to Junior High with Dax.*
    Kristen is an inspiration to us all battling with these conditions. And her strength is incredible and an inspiration to us all that suffer as well. God BlessHer !!
    (Jennifer Bunker)

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