Kristen Bell felt "irresponsible" for hiding her battle with depression and anxiety.

Kristen Bell

Kristen Bell

The 'Frozen 2' star first shared her experiences with her mental health back in 2016, but has said that she wishes she had spoken up sooner, as it took her husband Dax Shepard pushing her to open up publicly before she was ready to tell the world what she'd been through.

She said: "[Dax] 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. 
"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, it really is."

Kristen, 39, agreed to open up about her battle because she wanted to reduce the stigma around anxiety and depression.

She added: "Everyone thinks there's some shame in it."

The beauty - who has daughters Lincoln, six, and Delta, four, with Dax - knows she often gives off positive energy, but says that she still struggles from time to time.

Speaking on the 'Today' show, she said: "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."

Back in 2016, Kristen said her anxiety first manifested in an intense need to be liked.

She explained: "I'm extremely co-dependent. I shatter a little bit when I think people don't like me. 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."


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