Kristen Bell has revealed that she struggles with anxiety and depression.
“I’m extremely co-dependent,” the actress shared during an “Off Camera” interview with Sam Jones. “I shatter a little bit when I think people don’t like me. That’s part of why I lead with kindness and I compensate by being very bubbly all the time because it really hurts my feelings when I’m not liked. And I know what’s not very healthy and I fight it all the time.”
While mental illness does run in Bell’s family, her mother, a nurse, addressed the issue with her at a young age.
“[My mom’s] a nurse and she had the wherewithal to recognize that in herself when she was feeling it and when I was 18 said, ‘If you start to feel like you are twisting things around you, and you feel like there is no sunlight around you, and you are paralyzed with fear, this is what it is and here’s how you can help yourself,” the 35-year-old explained.
Though Bell does take medication to keep her anxieties at bay, she doesn’t appreciate the stigma surrounding mental illness.
“If you do decide to go on a prescription to help yourself, understand that the world wants to shame you for that, but in the medical community, you would never deny a diabetic his insulin. Ever,” she continued. “But for some reason, when someone needs a serotonin inhibitor, they’re immediately crazy or something.”
Fortunately for Bell, she has the unconditional support of husband Dax Shepard, as well as their two daughters, 2-year-old Lincoln and 5-month-old Delta.