Entertainment

Chelsea Houska Feels Like A New Person After Facing Her Anxiety Head-On

by Gillian Walters

Many Teen Mom 2 stars have been forthcoming about their various struggles, including Chelsea Houska, who opened up about managing her anxiety and how it has helped her personal growth in the past year. Houska chatted about this important issue during an appearance for the Season 9 reunion show.

Houska has shared her experiences with anxiety in the past, explaining to a fan in February how leaving her kids behind to go on a date made her nervous. "After giving birth, I personally go through a period of what I would say is pretty severe postpartum anxiety (it was by far the worst after having Watson)," she responded, according to Reddit.

She continued, "For me, leaving them to go out just causes a lot of stress and anxiety. But we are trying to make it a point to get out on dates more! We are very grateful to have help from family members when we need it!"

Now Houska is in a much better place, stating during the reunion, "I truly feel like this year, I have been though a period of growth as a person. Mentally, and in a lot of different ways. My husband saw me at my worst. Mine manifested as health anxiety. It was a big step for me to accept, 'OK, this is anxiety.'"

What worked for Houska was saying "yes" more, even when it made her uncomfortable. "I’ve always stayed in my bubble, I don’t like putting myself out there, I don’t like to be judged," she explained. "I’m very sensitive."

A perfect example of this? When Houska decided to reach out to parenting company Itzy Ritzy for a potential collaboration. "And this year, I was just like, I don’t want to have this all be over and be like 'wow, I didn’t take advantage of something that would be really great for my family,'" she said. "You know, and really set up a future for our family. I’m forcing myself to do these things that I normally would say no to." She added, "I feel like I’ve come a long way."

Houska also gave credit to her husband of three years, Cole DeBoer, for making her feel confident. "He doesn’t make me feel any less."

I'm so glad to hear Houska has come to good place in her journey with anxiety. That being said, anxiety can be ongoing issue (it's a medical diagnosis, after all), and it's important to stay on top of it no matter how you might be feeling.