Chelsea Handler: ‘Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Be Such a Dirty Word’

Chelsea Handler wrote a powerful essay about living with anxiety.

The comedian discussed her lifelong struggle in the June issue 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 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 on InStyle.com.