Kristen Bell Speaks Directly To Kids In Powerful Video About Anxiety And Depression
Kristen Bell’s video for kids about seeking help for anxiety and depression is pretty much perfect
In this age of internet “perfection,” it’s becoming harder and harder to tell kids that it’s OK to not be perfect. They’re inundated daily with glossy social media posts that give no hint of any real problems or shortcomings, which makes it all the more challenging for a child to speak up about their struggles with anxiety and depression.
Which is exactly why all-around wonderful person Kristen Bell is speaking out about the importance of kids getting help with mental health issues.
In a video for the Child Mind Institute for a campaign called My Younger Self, a makeup-free Bell gets very candid about anxiety and depression — talking directly to kids about how there’s absolutely no shame in seeking help and speaking up.
She opens by sharing that she’s “suffered from anxiety and/or depression” since she was 18 and wants kids to know that it’s OK to talk about their feelings — and get help if they need it.
“Don’t be fooled by this game of perfection that humans play,” she says. “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 any problems, but everyone’s human. Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes.”
And isn’t that the truth — all of it. Even us grownups fall prey to “everyone else’s life is perfect and mine’s garbage” while scrolling Facebook or Instagram. It’s so easy to believe no one else has problems but you. So imagine how it is for a child.
“You deserve to feel just as beautiful on the days you wear no makeup and on the days where you don’t shower and on the day where you feel….depressed,” she says.
Bell also reminds kids that they’re not alone and “there are resources out there if you’re feeling anxious, people to talk to and doctors to interact with.”
Bell and her husband, Dax Shepard, have long been open about attending couples’ therapy together and Shepard’s struggles with substance abuse. That’s why she speaks so authentically on this topic — it’s one close to her heart and her passion is clear.
She closes by saying, “Never feel embarrassed or ashamed about who you are….we’re all just human.”
She couldn’t have said it better.
