Actress Kristen Bell, known for her roles on TV’s “The Good Place” and as Anna in the Disney franchise “Frozen,” says she used psychedelic mushrooms to help her manage bouts of anxiety and depression.
Bell recently appeared on the “Hypochondriactor” podcast, hosted by “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes along with Dr. Priyanka Wali, and explained how Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind convinced her that psychedelic medicine could help ease her mental health symptoms.
“He really goes into detail about this underground academic community that has continued to study the effects of LSD and psilocybin on what they call ‘healthy normal.’” She says. “There are aspects to those two particular drugs that the places you can go in your brain are much deeper and more healing than anything else.”
Bell decided she wanted to try psilocybin in order to “feel what kind of doors open, have a trip that was my own.”
She planned her trip on her last birthday (she’s currently 40) and enlisted her husband, comedian Dax Shepard (a recovering addict) to sit with her. She said she wanted someone she trusted to be with her and to talk to her during the experience.
Shepard was not only present, he got her organic mushrooms and helped create the set and setting so she could get the most out of the experience. He even took her on a walk around the neighborhood. “And it was so lovely,” she recalls. The medicine made her enamored with her own body. A “strong and elegant” vessel, she came to realize, that carried her through years of happiness and pain.
Since her trip with psilocybin, Bell still has bouts of anxiety and depression, and still takes antidepressants to manage symptoms. But the medicine made her “better.” She says she is grateful to be so “lucky.”
The multi-hyphenate Bell also recently launched a line of vegan CBD-based wellness products called Happy Dance in a partnership with the brand Lord Jones. It further builds on her own wellness pursuits and encourages her fans to prioritize self-care.
“Self-care shouldn’t be an event,” says Bell. “Self-care should consist of everyday pick-me-ups that can be integrated into one’s daily routine.”
“Kristen Bell is currently working with Hers as their spokesperson for psychiatry. The website offers mental health resources, including telepsychiatry appointments and prescription medication delivery. Bell has been open about her own struggles with anxiety and depression, and hopes to help break the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage people to seek the help they need.”
