Answer Addiction

Tag: Kristen Bell

  • "Frozen 2" Star Kristen Bell Talks Depression, Anxiety

    "Frozen 2" Star Kristen Bell Talks Depression, Anxiety

    “I’m like ‘bubbles, glitter!’ No, it’s not always that way. I am someone who takes a medication for her anxiety and depression.”

    Kristen Bell is in a good place. Her new movie Frozen 2 debuted at number one arround the world, bringing in an estimated $350 million globally, according to The Hollywood Reporter. During a press tour for the hit movie, Bell opened up about mental health.

    In a Sunday Sitdown interview with Willie Geist, Bell got candid about living with mental illness.

    Living With Depression In The Public Eye

    “The last few years you’ve been very open about anxiety and depression and things you struggle with that so many people in this world suffer with and I think they think there’s some shame in it,” Geist said to the Veronica Mars actress, “But if they see Kristen Bell, who projects — even sitting right here — she’s happy, she’s smart, she’s bubbly.”

    Bell was quick to add that while she may appear happy all the time, it’s not always the case.

    “I’m like ‘bubbles, glitter!’ No, it’s not always that way. 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,” Bell shared. “And me talking about that actually came from — ugh, I hate to give him credit for everything, it’s so annoying that he’s so right about everything.”

    Encouragement From Dax

    Bell’s husband actor/podcaster Dax Shepard is famously open about his past drug use and subsequent sobriety. 

    “He was like ‘Why don’t you talk about your anxiety and depression?’ and I had never thought about that before. And I immediately felt incredibly irresponsible,” she said.

    Bell then began publicly discussing her struggles with depression and anxiety during interviews. 

    Bell went in-depth about her mental health in a 2016 interview with Sam Jones for an episode of Off Air With Sam Jones.

    “I’m extremely co-dependent. I shatter a little bit when I think people don’t like me,” Bell explained. “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 know I’m not liked. And I know that’s not very healthy and I fight it all the time.”

    She also revealed some advice that her mother gave her when she was experiencing mental health issues at age 18.

    “[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,” Bell said.

     

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Dax Shepard & Kristen Bell Talk Sober Parenting, Wine Memes

    Dax Shepard & Kristen Bell Talk Sober Parenting, Wine Memes

    The celebrity couple discussed “mommy juice,” vacationing with others who imbibe and wine memes in a recent interview. 

    Celebrity couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard spoke of parenting without relying on alcohol to relax and making the “wine mom” memes work for them while living mostly sober lives in an interview with HuffPost.

    Shepard himself has been totally sober since 2004, and while Bell still has an occasional drink, she doesn’t imbibe as much as her friends. Shepard does get jealous sometimes, though.

    “We vacation almost exclusively with three other families who all have kids, and certainly at night, I’m super jealous of them because I’m like, f**k yeah I would love to drink something that turned down the volume of everyone in this house,” Shepard explained. “So I’m a little bit jealous in the evenings.”

    But then the hangover-free morning comes.

    “At 6:45 when we’re all up, I’m like, Oh I’m crushing right now. I feel great. And they’re miserable. And those voices are three times as loud with a hangover.”

    Shepard is trying to focus on the positives, such as those high-energy mornings with his young kids Delta Bell and Lincoln.

    Wine Memes In Online Parenting Communities

    Kristin Bell, meanwhile, may not drink every day, but she’s found a way to relate to the “mommy juice” memes that online parenting communities love.

    “So, the wine memes, for me, they’re all-encompassing in the fact that they represent, ‘Remember that you’re an adult. It’s OK if your kids are stressful and annoying. It’s OK to take time for yourself,’” she said. “But to me, that doesn’t necessarily ever mean alcohol.”

    Instead of always turning to alcohol, Bell finds comfort and stress relief in her husband.

    “I personally don’t have wine every day, but my wine is Netflix and cuddling with my husband or our date night.”

    Dax Doesn’t Mind Being Around People While They Drink

    Embracing a sober or mostly-sober lifestyle has spread into something of a trend, with an increasing number of celebrities trying it out. Bell and Shepard have been at the forefront, often speaking out about the benefits and challenges. Thankfully, their friends have been supportive and Shepard doesn’t find it difficult when others drink around him.

    “Dax has never been triggered by people drinking around him,” said Bell. “In fact, our friends are usually sensitive to it, and they look to me like, ‘Is it OK if I pour myself a drink?’ And Dax will notice and say, ’Oh no listen, I lost my privilege of drinking, but you didn’t lose your privilege. I think you should have a drink.′ So I’m very lucky there.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kristen Bell Gets Candid About Mental Health On Instagram

    Kristen Bell Gets Candid About Mental Health On Instagram

    Bell revealed on Instagram that lately she’s been “feeling very off,” but she is utilizing resources and her support system to help her through it.

    Kristen Bell, star of Veronica Mars, is one of many celebrities who has been open about her mental health. She recently posted on her Instagram story, “Lately I’ve been feeling very off.”

    Bell added, “I’m checking in with my support systems and my resources and I hope you are too because we can handle whatever life throws at us if we ask for hope.”

    Several days earlier, Bell posted a picture of herself in a split image. In one image, she looked happy, in another image, she looked depressed. “Ever feel like this?” she wrote. “Me too. Often. It’s okay to not feel ok. We’ll get through it together.”

    On Instagram, Bell also suggested ways to battle back against tough mental health days, like going on Google and looking up “workouts near me, mental health resources near me, therapists near me, support groups near me.”

    In previous interviews, Bell has been very open about her mental health struggles. She learned about her family’s difficulties with mental health when she was 18. Her mother told her that there was “a serotonin imbalance in our family line, and it can often be passed from female to female.” Her grandmother had endured electroshock therapy, and Bell learned how to take care of her own mental health through her mother.

    When Bell decided to go on medication, her mother told her “the world wants to shame you for that. But in the medical community, you would never deny a diabetic his insulin. But for some reason, if someone needs a serotonin inhibitor, they’re immediately crazy or something.”

    Last year, Bell participated in a campaign for the Child Mind Institute, where she posted a message to her younger self, saying, “People seem like they don’t have problems, but everyone’s human. Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes. I have suffered from anxiety and/or depression since I was 18. What I would say to my 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, everything looks so beautiful, and people seem like they don’t have problems, but everyone’s human.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kristin Bell Celebrates Dax Shepard’s Sober Birthday

    Kristin Bell Celebrates Dax Shepard’s Sober Birthday

    Shepard says Bell “spoils the hell” out of him on his sober birthday.

    Each year Dax Shepard knows he can expect a great gift from his wife, not on his actual birthday, but on the day he got sober. 

    “The nicest presents she’s gotten me are always on my sober birthday. In fact, my real birthday … still haven’t gotten a present,” Shepard told People, adding that Bell “spoils the hell out of me” on his sober birthday. 

    Bell, who has two daughters, ages 4 and 5, with Shepard, said that she prioritizes his sobriety milestones because that is what allows them to be a family. 

    “I’m very happy he was born so I celebrate his birthday, but I’m extraordinarily [happy] that he has stayed sober because that’s what allows me to have him in my life as a husband and as a father,” she said. 

    She also knows how much effort Shepard puts into maintaining his recovery, even after 14 years. 

    “I know how much effort has to be put into staying sober. I don’t mean that to be like, I come home and see him shaking and looking at a whiskey ad or something, [but] there are different elements you have to deal with when you’re staying sober,” Bell said. “It’s a ton of mental control and evolution.”

    Bell and Shepard have been together 12 years, so she wasn’t his partner when he was actively using. Still, the couple has spoken openly about how Shepard’s sobriety has shaped their family life. 

    Last year, Bell wrote a touching public tribute to Shepard’s sobriety, which she shared on Instagram on his 14th year sober. 

    “I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it,” she wrote. 

    This week, Shepard joked about how the post went viral, overshadowing his accomplishment of 14 years sober. 

    “I scrape together 14 years of sobriety, and she writes a little flowery thank you. Now there’s headlines all over the country about Kristen’s accomplishment of writing this letter. I’m like, ‘Just like you to steal my thunder!’” he said. “I’m the one that went to 10,000 AA meetings. At no point was the message of any of the stories like, ‘Good job, Dax.’ It was like, ‘Can you imagine being loved by a woman like Kristen Bell?’”

    Joking aside, Shepard said that the message of support “was crazy sweet and I loved it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kristen Bell Reveals She Smokes Weed Around Sober Dax Shepard

    Kristen Bell Reveals She Smokes Weed Around Sober Dax Shepard

    “I smoke around my husband and it doesn’t seem to bother him. Weed rules. Weed is my drug of choice, for sure.”

    Actress Kristen Bell recently posted a heartfelt tribute to her husband Dax Shepard on social media congratulating him on his 14th year of sobriety.

    However, that doesn’t mean The Good Place actress has to walk on eggshells to protect his sobriety, she revealed in a new episode of WTF with Marc Maron.

    “I like my vape pen quite a bit,” she said on the podcast. “I smoke around my husband and it doesn’t seem to bother him. Weed rules. Weed is my drug of choice, for sure.”

    “Once a week, if I am exhausted and we are about to sit down and watch 60 Minutes, why not?” she added.

    Shepard is candid about his past drug and alcohol use, which he admitted was one thing that contributed to the couple’s early relationship woes. “I just loved to get fucked up—drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything,” he said in a past Playboy interview. “Mostly my love was Jack Daniel’s and cocaine. I lived for going down the rabbit hole of meeting weird people.”

    Shepard said he was lucky he didn’t land himself in jail. He is now fully invested in his recovery, which is why Bell can use cannabis around him. “He likes drugs and alcohol. He’s just aware that he lost his privilege with them because he can’t handle it,” said Bell. “His brain does not have the chemistry to handle it.”

    On September 1, Bell posted an open letter to the Without a Paddle star on Instagram in honor of his 14th sober anniversary. “I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it,” she wrote.

    “I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night.”

    “I’m so proud that you have never ben ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves. You have certainly inspired me to do so,” she added.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kristen Bell Writes Message To Dax Shepard On Sober Anniversary

    Kristen Bell Writes Message To Dax Shepard On Sober Anniversary

    “I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it.”

    Actress Kristen Bell took to Instagram to write a message to her husband, Parenthood star Dax Shepard, to celebrate his 14 years of sobriety. 

    “I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it,” Bell wrote on Instagram. 

    Shepard has been open about his addiction and how it could have led to more severe consequences. 

    “I just loved to get fucked up—drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything. Mostly my love was Jack Daniel’s and cocaine,” he told Playboy in 2012. “I was famous for going out on Thursday night to have a couple of beers and that just led all the way to Saturday night… Of course, come Monday I would be tallying up all the different situations, and each one was progressively more dangerous. I got lucky in that I didn’t go to jail.”

    In her post, Bell talked about the ongoing, daily work that it takes Shepard to stay sober. “I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night,” she wrote. 

    She pointed out how Shepard puts the tenants of recovery into action, as a husband and as a father to their daughters, who are 2 and 5. 

    “You never fail to make amends, or say sorry when it’s needed. You are always available to guide me, and all of our friends, with open ears and tough love when it’s needed most,” Bell wrote. “You have become the fertilizer in the garden of our life, encouraging everyone to grow.”

    In addition, Bell said that she has learned from how open Shepard is about his recovery.

    “I’m so proud that you have never been ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves,” she wrote. “You have certainly inspired me to do so.”

    Bell has spoken in the past about how Shepard’s experience has changed her perception of addiction and people who abuse drugs, making her more empathetic toward those who need help.

    “Seeing the world through his eyes has really opened mine to knowing that it is a disease and nobody is choosing to drink more than others,” she told The New York Daily News in 2016. “They are doing it because of a variety of reasons and they deserve the attention of a mental health professional, and not the county jail or however else we’re choosing to pretend we’re fixing the problem.”

    View the original article at thefix.com