Christy Carlson Romano Says It Was 'Challenging to Be Sober During COVID,' But She 'Did Not Relapse'

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Christy Carlson Romano is taking things one day at a time.

While hosting the first-ever 90s Con this weekend in Hartford, Connecticut, the Even Stevens star got candid with PEOPLE about the challenges she's faced during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Romano, 37, who has previously opened up about her struggles with alcoholism and eating disorders on her YouTube vlog, admitted it was "challenging to be sober during COVID."

"I think it sucks that COVID happened and that a lot of people turned to booze, but it makes perfect sense," she told PEOPLE on Saturday. "I understand why a lot of people probably relapsed during COVID. I did not relapse during COVID and quarantine, but it was very challenging."

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She added that, as a mother to two daughters — Isabella, 5, and Sophia, 3, whom she shares with husband Brendan Rooney — there were times she felt alone despite being surrounded by others.

"You can still feel very isolated even if you have a lot of people around you because it's your responsibility as a parent to love your children and to keep them kids as long as possible. I really believe that. If everyone knows me from talking about being a child actor, I want my kids to have the best childhood that they can have … and I'm already triggered because I was growing up in fear," Romano said.

"So it was challenging to be sober because you're like, 'Okay.' Those impulses come up of, 'How am I going to 'release' from all this confusion and fear?' So traditionally, I probably would have gone out and partied and drank and danced the night away, but you're stuck at home, there's nothing to do," she added.

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The former Disney Channel star instead found other methods to cope. Romano recalled a time at the beginning of quarantine when she just got into her car with no destination in mind.

"I literally drove down the freeway, and I screamed. I literally did a primal scream. It was scream therapy at its finest. I was driving down the freeway screaming so loud, and it's the craziest thing, but I did it," she explained. "I don't think anyone knows that, by the way — it's one thing I've never told anybody. It's a weird time, and it continues to be a weird time."

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Romano, who also voiced the title character in the early 2000s Disney animated series Kim Possible, said she found that opening up in her vlogs about obstacles like these was "freeing and empowering."

"I could finally be myself and talk to people about myself authentically, and obviously being authentic is what everybody wants to see these days," she said. "It's not only that they want to see it, but that they need it. And so I think it was really reassuring to come out and be like, 'Hey guys, I'm struggling, I've struggled, this was in the past, but here I am now. We're okay. We're all okay.' "

"The tone of the channel has grown into something that I do feel is really authentic, and I'm trying to keep that going," Romano concluded.