Kristen Bell is proud of the way Dax Shepard has handled his relapse

Kristen Bell is supporting her husband Dax Shepard, who recently publicly addressed the fact that he’s relapsed at the 16-year mark of his sobriety after a motorcycle accident this past August.Following a previous accident in 2012, Shepard found himself in a ton of pain. The timing coincided with his father becoming terminally ill and the confluence of events led to Shepard misusing his father’s prescription painkillers. Shepard considered the incident to be a bit of a grey area — he’d been prescribed the same drugs for the accident but took double the dose his doctor had advised. When wife Kristen Bell (eight months pregnant at the time) showed up to surprise him, he told her about his brief relapse and the couple rallied the resources Shepard needed to avoid a prolonged return to drug and alcohol use.[video_embed id='2043873']RELATED: Dax Shepard reveals he relapsed after 16 years[/video_embed]In a recent episode of his podcast Armchair Expert, Shepard talked about how the 2012 incident felt like a one-time slip-up, while the more recent relapse spun out into a pattern of abuse of the drugs vicodin and oxycontin — one that he found he couldn’t rein in on his own and couldn’t confess to his family or friends. It wasn’t until his podcast partner Monica Padman confronted him that he realized he couldn’t keep lying about what was happening to him. That led to a tough conversation with both her and Bell.Initially, a source close to the couple told Us, “Dax chose to keep this a secret from Kristen because he felt so ashamed at the time and didn’t want to hurt her. They have such a strong marriage and have always been there for each other through thick and through thin.”

 

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My 2 favorite guys.? Cc @packlife_la

A post shared by kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on Sep 29, 2020 at 10:56pm PDT

At the time Shepard recorded his extremely personal podcast episode, he’d been sober for seven days and he told listeners that he, Bell, and a close friend came up with an antidote for the kind of pride and ego that led him to think he could successfully manage his drug habit: to inject some humility into the process by telling the world (or at least Armchair Expert listeners) what had happened.“Thank you for your brutal and real honesty last week,” one listener wrote on Instagram. “The part that truly broke me was your real fear of letting people down or being judged. You are beyond loved and so much more respected for being real and vulnerable. Thank you for your heart and truth.”Bell and Shepard, who have frequently been candid about their marriage and parenting efforts, are likely to clear this latest hurdle. “They’re both fully confident everything will be OK, but they’re taking nothing for granted,” said Us’ source. “Dax knows there will be hurdles and difficulties ahead. Thankfully he’s a guy blessed with incredible courage, a strong sense of focus and his dream soulmate to count on 24/7. He’s working the steps and feels nothing but grateful — especially if he can be a voice to help others and ultimately save lives.”[video_embed id='2044727']RELATED: Dax Sheppard opens up about breaking his sobriety[/video_embed]