Kristen Bell Shares Her Expert-Approved Hack for Overcoming "Really Low" Days
Kristen Bell has been incredibly candid about struggling with anxiety and depression. And, in a new interview, she shared a tool she uses when she’s having a particularly hard time.
"I am someone who takes a medication for her anxiety and depression. I am someone who has to check myself and sometimes—if I’m feeling really low—make a checklist of good and bad things in my life to see if it’s my mental state or if we really have a problem," the Frozen 2 actress told Today.
The hack seems like a great idea, and experts say it works well for other people, too. "This is essentially a form of mindfulness," says clinical psychologist John Mayer, Ph.D., author of Family Fit: Find Your Balance in Life. “Mindfulness has been shown to be a very effective way to manage our emotions and lead a fulfilled life,” he says.
This is also a “classic technique” that’s recommended for people who struggle with anxiety and depression, says James Murrough, M.D., director of the Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment at Mount Sinai. It helps patients learn to work through negative thought patterns on their own, he says, and helps them learn to distinguish between negative thought patterns and emotions. “If you’re feeling blue, you can learn to stop and say, ‘What are the thoughts I’m having that might be triggering my negative thinking?’ and realize in back of your mind that you were were putting yourself down or interpreting events in a negative way,” he says.
Another way of doing this is to compare your day to past days to try to see what’s different, says Lily Brown, Ph.D., Director of Research at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. “It can help you get perspective on what has changed, if anything,” she says.
And, if you know you’re having a particularly bad day, Brown recommends knowing the behavioral patterns you tend to fall into when you’re feeling low and avoiding them, like pushing back on the temptation to take a nap or withdraw from people. Engaging in those behaviors “can fuel the anxiety and depression,” she says.
Everyone’s situation and tools that work for them can be slightly different, Murrough says. But, he says, finding exactly what works for you like Bell with the help of a therapist can go a long way toward combating anxiety and depression.
Like what you just read? You’ll love our magazine! Go here to subscribe. Don’t miss a thing by downloading Apple News here and following Prevention. Oh, and we’re on Instagram too.
You Might Also Like
