Kristen Bell Opened Up About Leaning on Dax Shepard for Mental Health Advice
Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank, Getty Images
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have always been open about the things they struggle with (both individually and as a couple) and now, the Good Place star is opening up about her mental health. In a cover interview with Self, published May 3rd, Bell admitted her mental health has suffered over the past year, but Shepard has been the one who's seen her through it.
Amid lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, Bell admitted that she was in a mental zone that wasn't "healthy for my family to be around."
"I have trouble distinguishing between my emotions and someone else's emotions, and that's not a compliment to myself," she admitted. "That's a very dangerous thing to toy with."
When she got into that negative headspace, Shepard was the one who pulled her out of it by bringing her back to reality and asking if she was helping anyone by crying or was she being self-indulgent before giving her ways to take action and be productive with her feelings.
Bell said that Shepard would tell her, "'Either get up and donate money or donate your time or do something to help, or take that story in, give it some love, and come out here and be a good mom and a good wife and a good friend and live your life in honor of the suffering that happens in the world.'" And while she didn't love that approach, she did admit that he was right.
At the same time, she's trying to teach daughters Lincoln, 8, and Delta, 6, that even when they feel down, they should know how privileged they really are.
"I say to [my kids] all the time, 'I'm not saying you can't complain. You're allowed to have any feeling you want, and you're allowed to sit in it for as long as you need. But when you're done, I just need you to remember,'" Bell told Self. "'We have the luckiest life you have ever heard of. You have a swimming pool in your backyard.'"
And if either of them ever end up dealing with mental health struggles like their mom has, it sounds like they've got the best parents to help them cope.
