INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Kristen Bell On Dax Shepard’s Addiction And Why It Made Her More Charitable

By Jessica Dafoe
Published on: 02:59 PST, Jul 1, 2016

Kristen Bell has been known to be a big mental health advocate who routinely draws attention to the need to assist those struggling with depression and mental illness. The Bad Moms actress is always more than willing to help others when she sees that they are in need.

The actress involves herself regularly with PATH, People Assisting The Homeless. She recently gave $10,000 to Sun Cedar, which is an organization that provides jobs to felons, addicts, and others who are struggling to reintegrate themselves back into society.

Kristen admits that she assists so much in this regard because she witnessed her own husband, Dax Shepard, deal with addiction issues. The actress spoke with E! News on the subject.

“I have a particular affinity towards helping people who feel outcast whether they’ve made mistakes, like having past felony convictions or recovering addict. My husband is in recovery and is almost 13 years sober. And seeing the world through his eyes has really opened mine to knowing that it is a disease and 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.”

It’s hard to believe that the hilarious and talented actor who has starred in Parenthood and Idiocracy, had a substance abuse problem. Refinery 29, however, quotes the words of the former party boy himself, from when he divulged details to Playboy.

“I just loved to get —-ed-up — drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything. Mostly my love was Jack Daniel’s and cocaine. I was famous for going out on Thursday night to have a couple of beers, and that just led all the way to Saturday night. I would meet people here and there, and then I’d be in a hotel room with four strangers. Oh, they’re tapping out? Well, someone new showed up. Well, what’s your name? Yeah, I’d love to go dancing. I lived for going down the rabbit hole of meeting weird people. Of course, come Monday I would be tallying up all the different situations, and each one was progressively more dangerous. I got lucky in that I didn’t go to jail.”

As the interview continued, Dax then told a story that involved him going on a mission to find cocaine, crashing his car while doing so, then continuing on his mission regardless of the crash scenario. It’s clear as to why Kristen Bell is so adamant about helping to support those who suffer from the disease of addiction to get better.

Kristen and Dax are now in a great place and enjoy successful acting careers along with raising their adorable little ones. Bell spoke about how raising Delta, 1, and Lincoln, 3, has caused her to become more aware of embracing people no matter what their color, station in life, or the vices that may grip them. Kristen shared about this in her chat with E!

“It is the most important thing I am trying to teach. 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. It’s so simple to get caught up in lines that divide us. Why are you different? I think it’s important to remind ourselves that we are all the same and everyone is doing the best they can with what they have.”

[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for The People’s Choice Awards]

Share this article: Kristen Bell On Dax Shepard’s Addiction And Why It Made Her More Charitable
dax shepard Kristen Bell
More from Inquisitr