Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Helped Her Understand Addiction

Kristen Bell doesn’t shy away from discussing difficult subjects. She recently talked to Motto about living with depression and anxiety, and on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with E!, Bell explained how her husband’s recovery from drugs and alcohol helped her better understand the disease.

“Seeing the world through his eyes has really opened mine to knowing that it is a disease,” she told E!. “Nobody is choosing to drink more than others, they are doing it because of a variety of reasons and they deserve the attention of a mental health professional, and not the county jail or however else we’re choosing to pretend we’re fixing the problem.”

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His 13 years of sobriety, she says, inspired them both to do more to help people struggling with similar issues. “I have a particular affinity towards helping people who feel outcast whether they’ve made mistakes, like having past felony convictions or recovering addicts,” she said. The couple work closely with PATH (People Assisting The Homeless), which assists people moving off the street and into homes. “I learned to find joy in lending a hand and lending support to those who need it,” Bell said. “And I was taught to view all humans as a part of my family.”

She says she and Shepard are instilling those values in their two children, Delta and Lincoln. She says, “I am trying to teach my kids not be stunted by country lines, language barriers, or religious boundaries. And that all human beings, and everyone in the world is part of someone’s family and they should be treated as such.”

Read the rest of E!‘s article here.