Kristen Bell tried hallucinogenic mushrooms to help manage depression and Dax Shepard ‘babysat’ her

Kristen Bell tried psychedelic drugs in an attempt to manage her 22 year battle with depression and her husband Dax Shepard – who is a recovering drug addict – helped ‘babysit her’ through the process.

The 40-year-old actress – who has tried everything from medications to meditation and talking with a therapist – appeared on actor Sean Hayes and Dr. Priyanka Wali’s new podcast, Hypochondriactor, as she discussed her latest attempt at managing her mental health.

She said she was inspired to try a new approach after reading Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind last year.

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Interesting: Kristen Bell (seen in January 2020) tried psychedelic drugs in an attempt to manage her 22 year battle with depression and her husband Dax Shepard – who is a recovering drug addict – helped ‘babysit her’ through the process

Bell explained: ‘He really goes into detail about this underground academic community that has continued to study the effects of LSD and psilocybin on what they call “healthy normal.”

She ultimately decided on trying psilocybin, which is the technical term for hallucinogenic mushrooms, to see if there are any positive benefits for her mental health.

Bell said: ‘I really wanted to try some psilocybin and feel what kind of doors open, have a trip that was my own.’

'I am very lucky to be married to an ex-drug addict': The actress wanted to make sure that she tried the hallucinogenic drug in a comfortable setting as her 46-year-old husband Dax (seen in LA back in January 2017) was more than willing to be of assistance

‘I am very lucky to be married to an ex-drug addict’: The actress wanted to make sure that she tried the hallucinogenic drug in a comfortable setting as her 46-year-old husband Dax (seen in LA back in January 2017) was more than willing to be of assistance

Revealing: The 40-year-old actress - who has tried everything from medications to meditation and talking with a therapist - appeared on actor Sean Hayes and Dr. Priyanka Wali's new podcast, Hypochondriactor , as she discussed her latest attempt at managing her mental health

Revealing: The 40-year-old actress – who has tried everything from medications to meditation and talking with a therapist – appeared on actor Sean Hayes and Dr. Priyanka Wali’s new podcast, Hypochondriactor , as she discussed her latest attempt at managing her mental health

‘There are aspects to those two particular drugs that the places you can go in your brain are much deeper and more healing than anything else.’

The actress wanted to make sure that she tried the hallucinogenic drug in a comfortable setting as her 46-year-old husband Dax was more than willing to be of assistance.

She joked: ‘I am very lucky to be married to an ex-drug addict. Not only did he know where to get the mushrooms … he got that really nice, quality, organic, set and setting, beautiful mushroom. And then he … babysat me.’

Ultimately, Bell decided that she wanted to do it for her birthday in July of last year as Shepard made sure to stick by her side.

'Healthy normal': She said she was inspired to try a new approach after reading Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind last year

‘Healthy normal’: She said she was inspired to try a new approach after reading Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind last year

'And he took me on a walk around the neighborhood and it was so lovely': Ultimately, Bell decided that she wanted to do it for her birthday in July of last year as Shepard made sure to stick by her side, as the two are seen in New York back in February 2019

‘And he took me on a walk around the neighborhood and it was so lovely’: Ultimately, Bell decided that she wanted to do it for her birthday in July of last year as Shepard made sure to stick by her side, as the two are seen in New York back in February 2019

She explained: ‘I said, “I really would like to experience this. And I don’t want to, I’m not going to party with it, but I want to know what this feels like. And I want to talk while I’m doing it, and I want you to talk to me.” And he took me on a walk around the neighborhood and it was so lovely.’

Bell said that the psilocybin had a very interesting effect on her because she became ‘so enamored with my own body.’

She explained: ‘I had gone to the bathroom, I went to pee and I came downstairs wide-eyed and I said, “Dax, I had to pee. I felt the sensation of having to pee and all of a sudden this beautiful lady”  — and I was pointing to my legs — picked me up. She walked me down the hallway. She sat me down on the toilet. She rolled a little roll of toilet paper for me and just put it on my lap till I was done peeing. Then she wiped me. Then she flushed the toilet and now I’m back out here.

‘But in my head, I had separated this body that had done so much good in my life, that has taken me through happiness and pain and workouts and laziness that I was just like, couldn’t stop touching my legs going, “You’re so strong. You’re so elegant.”‘ 

She went on to say that she feels like she is in a better place when it comes to her depression and anxiety now but it ‘comes in waves.’

‘But my waves are never suicidal or anything,’ Bell said. ‘So I’m very lucky because that does happen to people.’

'You're so strong. You're so elegant': Bell (seen in February 2020) said that the psilocybin had a very interesting effect on her because she became 'so enamored with my own body'

‘You’re so strong. You’re so elegant’: Bell (seen in February 2020) said that the psilocybin had a very interesting effect on her because she became ‘so enamored with my own body’

No doubt this is an interesting time when it comes to experimenting with psilocybin as the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms may be at least as effective as a leading antidepressant medication in a therapeutic setting, a new study released last month suggested.

Researchers compared the therapeutic potential of psilocybin – found in the mushrooms – with a six-week course of the antidepressant escitalopram in 59 people with moderate to severe depression.

They found that, while depression scores were reduced in both groups, the reductions occurred more quickly in the psilocybin group and were greater in magnitude.

However, they warned that the main comparison between psilocybin and the antidepressant was not statistically significant.

They said larger trials with more patients over a longer period are needed to show if the compound can perform as well as, or more effectively than, an established antidepressant.

Open book: Last September, Dax relapsed with Oxycodone after 16 years of sobriety as at the time he confessed he had begun battling a dependence on painkillers once again, as the couple are seen in Turks & Caicos back in January 2018

Open book: Last September, Dax relapsed with Oxycodone after 16 years of sobriety as at the time he confessed he had begun battling a dependence on painkillers once again, as the couple are seen in Turks & Caicos back in January 2018

Last September, Dax relapsed with Oxycodone after 16 years of sobriety as at the time he confessed he had begun battling a dependence on painkillers once again.

‘My fears were the opposite of what the result was,’ Shephard explained on the Monday episode of his podcast, Armchair Expert. ‘[I’m] struggling with some fraudulent feelings of receiving love based on a f**k-up. But at any rate, I’m really, really grateful and there’s so many beautiful, nice people.’

While admitting he was ‘so grateful’ for the support, Dax admitted the love initially felt odd to him.  

‘I did have this kind of weird, just childhood emotional reaction which was like, “I’m being recognized for having failed and for having been weak.” And I think it just circles back to not feeling worthy of love and kindness, maybe, I don’t know. It wasn’t just super easy for me to navigate.’

'It wasn't just super easy for me to navigate': On the episode, the actor  (seen in January 2020) discussed his history with painkillers and how he recently found himself battling a dependence on the pills again and keeping it a secret from those closest to him

‘It wasn’t just super easy for me to navigate’: On the episode, the actor  (seen in January 2020) discussed his history with painkillers and how he recently found himself battling a dependence on the pills again and keeping it a secret from those closest to him

On the episode, the actor discussed his history with painkillers and how he recently found himself battling a dependence on the pills again and keeping it a secret from those closest to him.

Kristen supported him every step of the way as she vowed to stand by him during an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show back in October.

She said: ‘He is actually doing really great. … Everybody is up against their own demons.’

The stars have two daughters: eight-year-old Lincoln and six-year-old Delta.