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9 Celebrity Moms Who Got Super Real About Anxiety

by Meg Kehoe

As a mom, it can be difficult to remember to take care of yourself sometimes. Putting your children first is a priority that's just sort of innately ingrained in you when you become a mother, and letting things like your mental health slip to the back burner can happen all too easily. But you're not the only one. Whether it's work, balance, or parenting induced, there are many celebrity moms who got super real about anxiety, and their words will remind you that anxiety doesn't discriminate.

It can happen to you, it can happen to Adele, it can happen to anyone. There's no anti-anxiety blessing that comes along with being a celebrity. In fact, most of the following celebrity moms attribute their life in the spotlight as adding to their anxiety, rather than equipping them with the proper tools to combat it. As always, hearing other people talk about their struggles can often help you feel less alone in your own battle. Especially when it comes from a seemingly perfect celebrity. Though it's easy to imagine that their lives are a level above ours, the following celebrity moms who got super real about anxiety prove that they struggle with anxiety just like anyone else, and that they're not exempt from having to take things one day at a time.

1

Kate Moss

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In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kate Moss spoke about her experience with anxiety. “I had a nervous breakdown when I was 17 or 18, when I had to go and work with Marky Mark and Herb Ritts,” she said. “It didn’t feel like me at all. I felt really bad about straddling this buff guy. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks. I thought I was going to die." What Moss was suffering from turned out to be anxiety. "Nobody takes care of you mentally," the supermodel told the magazine. "There’s a massive pressure to do what you have to do." Though most moms out there aren't supermodels, everyone who struggles with anxiety can relate to the pressure of having to do what you have to do to get through your day, and feeling less than taken care of mentally. Moss has since been able to manage her anxiety and create a wildly successful career for herself, proving that anxiety doesn't determine how successful a person can be.

2

Kim Basinger

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Kim Basinger opened up to People in 2013 about her anxiety and agoraphobia, saying that there was a period of her life where she relied heavily on medication to get her through the day. Since then, Basinger has found other coping mechanisms to help her through her anxiety. "Now I wake up and enjoy life. I didn't want to live on drugs. I wanted to face everything I was afraid of," she told the publication. Known to be a private person, Basinger's preference for privacy hasn't always been about her anxiety. The actress told the magazine that though her daughter Ireland Baldwin was raised in the limelight, that Basinger tried to keep their lives as private as possible so that her daughter could grow up in a stable environment.

3

Scarlett Johansson

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The insanely talented and seemingly perfect Scarlett Johansson opened up to Britain's Express about her anxiety. "I was nearly dead from anxiety," Johansson told the publication about a recent project she was working on. Though she admitted to being nervous before most of her projects, she noted that this situation seemed much worse, and affected her in a different way. "I told myself, there's no way this can go on for the next five weeks." Knowing that the anxiety would consume her if she didn't find a way to manage it, Johansson told the newspaper that she learned techniques to calm herself while she was on set, and that after she integrated them, the rest of filming was one of the best experience she's ever had.

4

Adele

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Though Adele might seem like she's got it all figured out, with a world tour, that fabulous winged eyeliner, and hit after hit, Adele told Rolling Stone that she suffers from anxiety attacks often. "I'm scared of audiences," she told the publication. "One show in Amsterdam I was so nervous, I escaped out the fire exit. I've thrown up a couple of times. Once in Brussels, I projectile-vomited on someone. I just gotta bear it. But I don't like touring. I have anxiety attacks a lot." And Adele learned to cope with her anxiety in a surprisingly relatable way. After meeting Beyoncé, Adele started asking herself, "'What would [Beyoncé's alter ego] Sasha Fierce do?' That's when Sasha Carter was born." Adele told the magazine that Sasha Carter is a combination Sasha Fierce and June Carter who is her alter ego, and who gracefully handles anxiety-inducing situations.

5

Leann Rimes

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After Leann Rimes voluntarily checked herself into rehab for anxiety and stress, the country music star sat down with Katie Couric to talk about it. "People look at you and go, 'Why are you struggling?' No one can quite understand why you hurt so badly," Rimes told Couric. In an interview with the Boston Herald, Rimes discussed how therapy has changed her life for the better. "I've been in therapy my whole life," she told the publication. "I like going. I like being able to have that third-party input and someone to listen that has nothing to do with your life. Everyone has an opinion of how I am and how I should be, and now I'm focusing on how I want to be." Struggling with anxiety on any level can be difficult to put into words, but often times, as in Rimes' case, seeking out help via therapy can help.

6

Nicole Kidman

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Nicole Kidman told Marie Claire that she suffered from anxiety, going so far as to not wear her glasses in public so that she could shut out the rest of the world while walking down the street. "I never wore glasses except when I had to read a teleprompter at an awards show or drive, so I didn't notice much," she said. "I could exist in my head. It was kind of my escape from the world and my protection." Since then, Kidman has had LASIK surgery, and is reportedly delighted by the result. "Now I have 20-20 vision. I can't believe I spent so many years blurry, but I think that coincides with how I was feeling. Now I notice if people are watching me, but I also smile right back if someone waves, which helps."

7

Jessica Alba

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In an interview with CosmoGirl, Jessica Alba opened up about her struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder as a teen. Having been at odds with control for most of her life, it's no surprise that Alba tends to find herself in a self-diagnosis spiral when she feels like something's wrong. "

8

Drew Barrymore

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After the birth of her second child, Drew Barrymore spoke about her anxiety and experience with postpartum depression to People. Though she didn't encounter postpartum with her first child, she told the magazine, "I really got under the cloud." Though Barrymore told People that her bout of postpartum only lasted about six months, she said that the experience helped her to manage her continuing anxiety, reminding her to live in the moment. "They’re singing I don’t even know what song, and we’re all doing our lollipop drums and I just thought, 'Save it until after class.' One thing at a time." Moms everywhere know how overwhelming keeping track of everything can be, but Barrymore's mantra, one thing at a time, is one that anyone suffering from anxiety can benefit from.

9

Kristen Bell

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Kristen Bell opened up about her experience with anxiety and depression when she wrote an Op-Ed piece for Time. "Anxiety and depression are impervious to accolades or achievements," she wrote. "Anyone can be affected, despite their level of success or their place on the food chain." She went on to write that being human is "stressful and taxing and worrisome, but it's also fulfilling and beautiful and bright." Bell wrote that talking about it is often the first step to helping yourself. And by talking about it herself, Bell has helped a number of mothers struggling with anxiety and depression to feel like they're not so alone in this crazy world.