--- title: Kristen Bell: Dax Shepard Helped Me Understand Addiction description: 'Seeing the world through his eyes has really opened mine to knowing that it is a disease' canonical: https://time.com/4390317/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-addiction/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-01T14:44:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:51.933Z og:title: Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Made Her Understand Addiction og:description: Her husband has been sober for 13 years og:url: https://time.com/4390317/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-addiction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54dd33e6d1994517/69889a4a0b72e369c66ea082/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-charity-addiction.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2nd Light Up The Blues Concert - An Evening Of Music To Benefit Autism Speaks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Made Her Understand Addiction twitter:description: Her husband has been sober for 13 years twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54dd33e6d1994517/69889a4a0b72e369c66ea082/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-charity-addiction.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Helped Her Understand Addiction by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 1, 2016 2:44 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 05: Actors Dax Shepard (L) and Kristen Bell (R) attend the 2nd Light Up The Blues concert an evening of music to benefit Autism Speaks at The Theatre At Ace Hotel on April 5, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic) LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 05: Actors Dax Shepard (L) and Kristen Bell (R) attend the 2nd Light Up The Blues concert an evening of music to benefit Autism Speaks at The Theatre At Ace Hotel on April 5, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)Paul Archuleta—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 1, 2016 2:44 PM UTC Kristen Bell doesn’t shy away from discussing difficult subjects. She recently talked to Motto about [living with depression](http://motto.time.com/4352130/kristen-bell-frozen-depression-anxiety/) and anxiety, and on Wednesday in an [exclusive interview](http://www.eonline.com/news/776425/kristen-bell-shares-how-dax-shepard-s-struggle-with-addiction-changed-her-world-view) 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.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ His 13 years of [sobriety](http://motto.time.com/4383514/demi-lovato-rehab-eating-disorder/), 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](http://www.epath.org/site/main.html) (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](http://www.eonline.com/news/776425/kristen-bell-shares-how-dax-shepard-s-struggle-with-addiction-changed-her-world-view). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4390317/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-addiction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4390317/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-addiction/"},"headline":"Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Helped Her Understand Addiction","datePublished":"2016-07-01T14:44:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:51.933Z","description":"'Seeing the world through his eyes has really opened mine to knowing that it is a disease'","url":"https://time.com/4390317/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-addiction/","keywords":["motto","Family"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54dd33e6d1994517/69889a4a0b72e369c66ea082/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-charity-addiction.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54dd33e6d1994517/69889a4a0b72e369c66ea082/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-charity-addiction.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2nd Light Up The Blues Concert - An Evening Of Music To Benefit Autism Speaks","caption":"2nd Light Up The Blues Concert - An Evening Of Music To Benefit Autism Speaks","creditText":"Paul Archuleta—FilmMagic/Getty Images","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/4390317/kristen-bell-dax-shepard-addiction/","name":"Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Helped Her Understand Addiction"}}]}] ```