Kristen Bell Felt ‘Guilt and Shame’ for Not Opening Up About Mental Health Struggles Sooner
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
She wants comforting people to be her 'new thing.'
Like many of us, Kristen Bell wishes she could go back and change a few decisions she made in this life.
The 42-year-old actress recently revealed that she felt "guilt and shame" for not publicly disclosing her mental health struggles sooner.
Chatting with theSkimm for an upcoming episode of the podcast, 9 to 5ish, Bell told interviewers that it was her husband, Dax Shepard, 47, who convinced her to open up about her struggles with anxiety and depression in the first place.
“Dax is really the only one that gets the me that wants to stay in bed for a while. Or the me that's very anxious. Like he's really the only one that has to deal with it. But I remember exactly when it was, and it was because of him, and he's really encouraged me to do so many things that are more authentic in my life."
“I [had] to do Sam Harris…Dax was like, ‘Why don't you talk about your anxiety and depression?’ And like, I stopped in my tracks because I realized I never had, and then I was overwhelmed [with] guilt and shame for my personal level of responsibility that I had not held myself to, to have been this girl that supposedly affected young women and young people through Veronica Mars and all these things, when I wasn't being truly and wholly honest about my struggles and my story. So when I went on that show, that's what I talked about," she admitted.
The interview Bell referred to originally circulated in April of 2016 via Off Camera With Sam Jones. An excerpt from the interview was shared on YouTube, coincidentally titled: "Kristen Bell Explains There Is No Shame In Feeling Anxiety & Depression."
After the piece was published, Bell reported a chain reaction of positivity, encouragement, and support.
"And then I started just getting this flood of letters and social media responses of, ‘Thank you so much for saying that out loud, no one ever does.’ And I was like, oh, well this has to be my thing now then. I have to be able to make people who are feeling similarly more comfortable.”
theSkimm's 9 to 5ish podcast episode featuring Kristen Bell can be streamed anywhere you listen to podcasts.
More News:
