Jason Segel Says He's 'Always Struggled' with Anxiety: 'We're All a Mess'

Jason Segel Says He's 'Always Struggled' with Anxiety: 'We're All a Mess'

Jason Segel is opening up about his mental health journey.


Segel, 43, stars opposite Harrison Ford in Apple TV+'s new therapy comedy Shrinking, as a man who tries counseling for the first time after the death of his wife.


While he expressed during an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment that the show, which is now available to stream, is helping to destigmatize mental illness, he revealed that he has asked for help "so many times" and "in so many different ways."


"One of the things our show exposes is that, 'Oh, we're all mess,' " he said. "Like even the person you think is your authority, they're a mess when they go home, too.'"

He explained: "I'm pretty conscious of my own mental health. I have always struggled a bit with anxiety and some sense that something is wrong and a sense of impending doom. At some point, I decided there's no reason to spend my life not feeling good, so I tried to acquire some tools, therapy being one of them, to feel like everything is okay."


After How I Met Your Mother, which wrapped its ninth season in 2014, Shrinking is Segel's first comedic television role. The CBS comedy starred Josh Radnor with Segel playing his best friend, Marshall Eriksen.


The "best friend" role was one that Segel played over and over, telling Yahoo! Entertainment, "I think what I brought to the table was I seem to have established some sense that I'm like your best friend."


With Shrinking, he added, "What I said to them was, 'We should push this character as far to the edge of likability as we can, and use this really good sentiment [that I've built up] for evil, and have him get it wrong. Have him get it wrong a bunch, because I think that you'll still feel like, 'He's doing his best.' "


The first two episodes of Shrinking are streaming now on Apple TV+.

Jason Segel Says He's 'Always Struggled' with Anxiety: 'We're All a Mess'

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