Kristen Bell, 'I Felt Worthless'
Kristen Bell has written an essay in Motto about her battle with what she called, “A negative attitude and a sense that I was permanently in the shade.”
The Frozen star, 35, has been bringing discussion about depression into the spotlight of late, since opening up about her own experience with mental illness in an interview with Off Camera.
Now, writing a powerful essay for TIME Magazine's website Motto, Bell discusses her early experiences and how she’s "normally such a bubbly, positive person, and all of a sudden I stopped feeling like myself."
With some guidance from her mother, Kristen sought professional help during her formative, adolescent years at college.
"Now, after seeking help, I can see that those thoughts, of course, couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s important for me 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. We all do."
Bell studied at the prestigious Tisch School of Arts in New York before winning the lead role of Veronica Mars in the hit television show by the same name.
The actress and mother-of-two was particularly shocked by the rate of mental illness in America - with 20% of the population experiencing it at some time in their life. Though she stayed mostly quiet about her battle with depression throughout the first 15 years of her career in acting, she feels a responsibility to speak up now to help others going through it and not knowing what their options are.
"Depression is a problem that actually has so many solutions. Let’s work together to find those solutions for each other and cast some light on a dark situation."