How Kristen Bell Overcame Her Battle With Depression & Anxiety

Kristen Bell Shares Moving Video About Her Battle With Depression And Anxiety

Getty

Each year, approximately one in five Aussies will experience a mental illness. It’s an alarming statistic and while we’d like to think that the stigma around this is starting to ease, there’s still a heap of work yet to be done.

Enter, Kristen Bell.

As part of The Child Mind Institute’s #MyYoungerSelf campaign, the 37-year-old has released a powerful video about how she overcome her personal demons in a bid to raise awareness for the cause.

“I have suffered from anxiety and or depression since I was 18,” she began.

Kristen Bell has anxiety and depression. We asked what she'd like to tell her younger self.

“What I would say to younger self is don’t be fooled by this game of perfection that humans play, because Instagram and magazines and TV shows, they strive for a certain aesthetic and everything looks so beautiful and people seem like they don’t have problems, but everyone’s human.”

She continued: “Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes. And you deserve to feel just as beautiful on days you don’t wear makeup and the days you don’t shower – and the days that you feel like you’re depressed.”

kristenanniebell View Profile

After urging anyone who is suffering to seek out help – whether that be through a therapist, doctor or both – she stressed that these issues should never be downplayed or ignored.

“Never feel embarrassed or ashamed about who you are,” she said. “There are plenty of things to feel embarrassed or ashamed about. If you forget your mum’s birthday, feel embarrassed about that. If you are prone to gossiping, feel ashamed about that. But never feel embarrassed or ashamed about the uniqueness that is you.”

This isn’t the first time the actress has spoken candidly on the topic. In a personal essay for Motto back in 2016, she explained that mental health check-ins should be as routine as going to the doctor or dentist.

kristenanniebell View Profile

I CANNOT BELIEVE ITS 2018 and there are 40 million victims of modern slavery in the world. People are trafficked across international borders every year, of which 80% are female and half are children. THIS HAPPENES IN THE US TOO. Btwn 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year. Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking). It generates a profit of $32 billion every year. Of that number, $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries. This is why I support the #enditmovement. They have people on the ground, in the streets, busting down doors, manning hotlines, prosecuting traffickers, and FREEING PEOPLE. Creative systematic change. Here in the US and all around the world. #enditmovement❌

“Anxiety and depression and impervious to accolades or achievements. Anyone can be affected, despite their level of success or their place on the food chain,” she said. In fact, there is a good chance you know someone who is struggling with it since nearly 20 percent of American adults face some form of mental illness in their lifetime. So why aren’t we talking about it?”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Kristen.

Lucy Bode

Lucy is Women Health’s digital editor, social media specialist and the go-to girl for all things holistic wellness. Her background as a journalist and passion for food, fitness and integrative medicine has led her to write for some of Australia’s leading publications over the course of her career.

Free Willow Bay tote - Worth $139.95

when you subscribe to Women's Health

Subscribe Now

Free Willow Bay tote - Worth $139.95

Magazine Subscription Offer