--- title: Chelsea Handler Writes Essay on Living With Anxiety description: Find out what Chelsea Handler wrote about living with anxiety in the June issue of InStyle. canonical: https://time.com/4769210/chelsea-handler-anxiety-essay/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-05T19:23:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:34.166Z og:title: Chelsea Handler: ‘Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Be Such a Dirty Word’ og:description: The comedian opens up about her battle with anxiety og:url: https://time.com/4769210/chelsea-handler-anxiety-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cfb548f0cfb3a0c/6988b2962dce01980f9ebb17/chelsea-handler-empowerment-women.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: AOL Build Presents Chelsea Handler Dishing On The New Season Of Her Hit Netflix Show, "Chelsea" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chelsea Handler: ‘Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Be Such a Dirty Word’ twitter:description: The comedian opens up about her battle with anxiety twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cfb548f0cfb3a0c/6988b2962dce01980f9ebb17/chelsea-handler-empowerment-women.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chelsea Handler: ‘Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Be Such a Dirty Word’  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney May 5, 2017 7:23 PM UTC  Comedian and tv personality Chelsea Handler attends AOL Build Presents Chelsea Handler Dishing On The New Season Of Her Hit Netflix Show, "Chelsea" at AOL HQ on August 25, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/WireImage) Comedian and tv personality Chelsea Handler attends AOL Build Presents Chelsea Handler Dishing On The New Season Of Her Hit Netflix Show, "Chelsea" at AOL HQ on August 25, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/WireImage)Monica Schipper—WireImage  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney May 5, 2017 7:23 PM UTC [Chelsea Handler](http://motto.time.com/4316630/chelsea-handler-single-women-shaming/) wrote a powerful essay about living with [anxiety](http://motto.time.com/4549298/teens-depression-anxiety-help/). The comedian discussed her lifelong struggle in the June [issue](http://www.instyle.com/celebrity/chelsea-handler-anxiety-personal-essay) of _InStyle_. “My anxiety manifests itself in different ways. Sometimes it’s just in my head and feels overwhelming, as if I’ve agreed to do too much,” she wrote. “Other times, when I’m really nervous, my leg shakes.” Handler shared that she still battles [anxiety](http://motto.time.com/4352130/kristen-bell-frozen-depression-anxiety/?iid=sr-link2)before big events or performances. But she copes with it by reminding herself that those feelings are temporary. “If you push past the fear, you’ve accomplished something and you’re a stud again,” she said. “Then people will start calling you fearless, and you’ll think, ‘If they only knew.’” “Anxiety doesn’t have to be such a dirty word,” Handler added. “It can be there for us to harness and turn into something fierce… I know I can flip that worry into something powerful.” Read the full [essay](http://www.instyle.com/celebrity/chelsea-handler-anxiety-personal-essay) on InStyle.com. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4769210/chelsea-handler-anxiety-essay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4769210/chelsea-handler-anxiety-essay/"},"headline":"Chelsea Handler: ‘Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Be Such a Dirty Word’","datePublished":"2017-05-05T19:23:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:34.166Z","description":"The comedian opens up about her battle with anxiety","url":"https://time.com/4769210/chelsea-handler-anxiety-essay/","keywords":["motto","Mental Health","celebrities","Anxiety","entertainment","chelsea handler"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cfb548f0cfb3a0c/6988b2962dce01980f9ebb17/chelsea-handler-empowerment-women.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cfb548f0cfb3a0c/6988b2962dce01980f9ebb17/chelsea-handler-empowerment-women.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AOL Build Presents Chelsea Handler Dishing On The New Season Of Her Hit Netflix Show, \"Chelsea\"","caption":"AOL Build Presents Chelsea Handler Dishing On The New Season Of Her Hit Netflix Show, \"Chelsea\"","creditText":"Monica Schipper—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4769210/chelsea-handler-anxiety-essay/","name":"Chelsea Handler: ‘Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Be Such a Dirty Word’"}}]}] ```