Mental health issues have increasingly become more observable in people around the world more than it was 10 years ago. According to MHA (Mental Health America), over 44 million American adults have a mental health condition.
Being diagnosed with a mental health problem used to be enveloped in so much stigma that people just brushed it under the rug and refuse to talk about it in the open, which led to even more deaths to suicide over the past decade because they were too afraid to ask for help.
But thankfully, now more than ever, more and more public personalities are speaking up on their personal battles with mental health issues and empowering others to bring their own mental battles to light. One of them is Kirsten Bell, an American actress who is popularly known for being the voice of Princess Anna in the animated movie “Frozen.”
Kirsten Bell admitted in 2016 that she has struggled with and received treatment for depression.
The 38-year-old actress says she was and still is actually intensely affected by what other people think about her. Growing up as a relatively popular girl, she was always nervous right under the surface that someone would reject her. So she often had to “change her identity” by changing her interests based on what her friends liked. She didn’t realize she was doing this until she reached her 30s – she completely lost who she was so that she can please everybody.
When Kirsten was very young, she had to be prescribed medication to cope with her anxiety and depression. She still takes her prescription medications until today and says she finds no shame in that, because that was the environment her mom had cultivated for her since a very young age – to be open about her struggles, to be honest that she needs help, and to talk to people about what’s going on in her head.
Even while being an actress who is constantly in the limelight, Kirsten still battles with her extreme codependecy and her need to be validated by the people around her. Yet she has learned to cope with her mental health issues and allowed herself to be productive and successful in the career she has chosen.
So if you are reading this and are still afraid of speaking up about your own fight with mental health issues, here are a few things you can take away from Kirsten’s story:
- Acknowledge your mental health issues.
- Speak up and ask for help.
- There is no shame in being treated for a mental condition.
- Surround yourself with people who understand your mental health problems and lift you up instead of pull you down.
Watch a short excerpt of her interview here where she talks openly about her own struggles with anxiety and depression and how she has coped with it.
Do you or anyone you know struggle with mental health problems, too? Share an encouraging tip in the comments below!
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