Selma Blair “became much happier” once she was diagnosed with MS.
Selma Blair felt ‘so much happier’ once she was diagnosed with MS
The 5r2-year-old actress was was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis – a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord – in 2018 before going through a risky two-month hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in order to try and jumpstart her immune system and admitted that the confirmation of her health status actually came as something of a relief because she thought she was “making it up” until then.
She told Us Weekly: “Once I knew I had MS — which I’d had for a while — [things] made so much more sense. And I actually became much happier. I’d had these jerks and spasms for many years, and I’d try to suppress them or keep moving or drink excessive amounts of alcohol to stop big things that I thought were mental.
“I honestly thought I was making it up before I was diagnosed. I just thought, ‘ Jesus, Selma, you’re very broken inside. Admit it.’ I didn’t know I wasn’t broken and that I had brain tissue damage.”
The ‘Cruel Intentions’ star – who announced in 2021 announced that she was in remission – admitted that she was “living a lie” until the diagnosis and has now realised that actually her condition is more about how she deals with others than it is about herself.
She added: “I’m so much happier. Yes. There are setbacks and my heart breaks when life goes off the rails. I was a sad person. I wanted joy and good things but I was living a lie because I didn’t know I was sick. I convinced myself I was just that dramatic, weird girl who needed alcohol to not stutter. I could’ve been kinder to myself.
“I realised it’s not about me. It’s about how I deal with people in the world. My stutter or dystonia or lack of ability to function in the sun — if that happens to me, it happens to others.”
