How to manage anxiety the celebrity way

A few years ago, celebrities started talking about how they battle anxiety and it blew my mind.

This is because for the first 25 years of my life, I didn’t even know that what I felt/ignored/struggled with were very real things named anxiety and panic attacks. I just thought all of that was just….me.

So, when celebrities with seemingly perfect lives and who did things on a regular basis that would terrify us regular folks (such as performing on live TV), shared that like me, they struggle with anxiety, it was amazingly free-ing!

I’ve learned ways to manage anxiety, but it’s definitely still something I have to keep working at and learning more about it.   

That’s why I’m all ears when the celebs talk anxiety.

Wise words about anxiety from actors Bill Hader and Kristen Bell

Bill Hader, actor, comedian, producer, director

Bill has been quite candid about the extreme anxiety he experienced during his eight years on the Saturday Night Live cast. It got a bit out of control and was affecting his job. He said he was 37 years old when he started meditation, which was helpful. But the thing that helped most was realizing that acknowledging anixety, not trying to ignore it, is key. In this interview, he shared that when Jeff Bridges hosted SNL, he noticed that Bill was extremely anxious. Jeff said, “That’s your buddy. Anxiety. Don’t fight that. Put your arm around it.”

Here’s what Bill said in this recent Child Mind Institute interview:

“There was always a little voice in my head telling me, here’s all the things that could go wrong. As you get older, that sticks around. So, when I was in my mid-30s, I officially tried to do something about it because it was affecting my job as a performer on live television. For someone with massive anxiety, that is a crazy job to have. But I loved my job, so I was going to figure out how to deal with this.

What helped me was learning that it doesn’t really go away. You manage it. Instead of pushing away your anxiety, and I always imagined my anxiety as this little monster that would attack my face and pull at my ears, and instead of pushing that thing away and trying to fight it, I would just go, hey, buddy. It was like a little monkey. I would just go, ‘ok, here, sit on my shoulder. Let’s hang out. Chill out.’ There it is.

Every time I would get nervous, I would become friends with it. I know that sounds corny maybe or a little silly. But it helped…Don’t push it away. Put your arm around it. Let’s go take that test. Let’s get on the bus. Take out the narrative of it. Meaning, OMG. I have a test. I’m nervous because I have a test. Take out ‘I have a test.’ Just say, ‘oh I’m nervous…This is me nervous’…You can manage it and figure it out.”

Kristen Bell, actor

About a year ago, Kristen Bell began speaking about the fact that she exercises and takes medication to deal with the effects of anxiety and depression, which afflicts women in her family. Her fans said “I have that, too” by the thousands.

“I have suffered from anxiety and depression since I was 18,” Kristen said. “Don’t be fooled by the game of perfection that humans play…. everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes…. you have an obligation to take care of yourself from the inside out. There are resources…. You are not alone…”

“I think talking about the messiness of being human…is what makes everyone happier…I want to raise people up….I think it’s such a waste of time to be ashamed of your own story.”