Despite her amazing marriage, her incredible career, and her two adorable children, Kristen Bell revealed she actually is just like us and that sometimes, she's just smiling through the pain. On Sunday, the 39-year-old actress shared an image of herself on Instagram that alludes to looking fine on the outside but feeling the opposite in reality. "Ever feel like this?" she wrote in the caption. "Me too. Often. It's okay to not feel ok. We'll get through it together. Love you bbs."
The post immediately went viral, gaining more than 300,000 likes in under 24 hours and plenty of comments from fans who appreciated and related to her message. "Thank you for sharing that," one commenter wrote. "It makes me feel less alone."
Bell did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what exactly spawned the post, but it's not the first time the A-list celebrity has opened up about her struggles with mental health issues. In 2016, she wrote an open letter in Time saying she was "over" staying silent about depression.
"For me, depression is not sadness," she wrote. "It’s not having a bad day and needing a hug. It gave me a complete and utter sense of isolation and loneliness. Its debilitation was all-consuming, and it shut down my mental circuit board. I felt worthless, like I had nothing to offer, like I was a failure. "
She went on to note that it felt important for her to be "candid about this so people in a similar situation can realize that they are not worthless and that they do have something to offer." She added that "anxiety and depression are impervious to accolades or achievements. Anyone can be affected, despite their level of success or their place on the food chain."
In May 2018, she credited her husband, Dax Shephard, for giving her the courage to reveal that the bubbly persona she often displays in interviews and on social media is only part of the true story.
"I'm grateful to my husband for saying, 'No, you should just talk about it.,'" Bell told told Today Parents. "Like he talks about the fact that he's sober, and that helps people. And I now have not stopped talking about it, mainly because I want people to hear that it's not a big deal and that you can be happy and healthy.”
Bell also reiterated that these dark thoughts and feelings are ones that we all share, so there's no reason to be embarrassed about them.
"It's a joke if you think everybody's not hiding some secret shame about being anxiety-riddled or depressed at some point,” she told Today. “We're all there, OK?”
Bell is not the only major celebrity who has admitted to struggling with mental health issues. In an April 2018 interview with The Express, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson revealed that he once went through a period where he was "devastated and depressed," and urged other men to "not be afraid to open up" and realize that they're "not alone." Shortly thereafter, Ryan Reynolds told The New York Times that he has "always had anxiety" and that he has been to "the depths of the darker end of the spectrum."
Bell's latest Instagram post is an inspiring reminder that everyone struggles with mental health issues, and that while you're never completely out of the woods, at least we're all in it together. And for advice on how to cope with these universal problems, check out 20 Expert-Backed Ways to Improve Your Mental Health Every Day.
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