Selma Blair Opens up About Living With Undiagnosed MS for 40 Years

Selma Blair has opened up about living with MS, in a new interview, and shared what it was like to live with the illness undiagnosed for 40 years. During a conversation with British Vogue, the actress shared that when she was a child she experienced issues with her bladder and eyes that should have been a clue she has a greater issue. However, doctors did not take her seriously.

“If you’re a boy with those symptoms, you get an MRI. If you’re a girl, you’re called ‘crazy,’” Blair said. Speaking about how doctors made her feel about her symptoms, she added, “I just thought I was a hugely emotional person. I looked like a ‘normal’ girl to them, but I was disabled this whole time.” Blair explained that it has been “overwhelming” to find out she has MS after four decades of living with the illness unknown, explaining, “I can be sat on the couch and then I wake up. I’ve passed out and have no idea where I am.”

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“I was worried since the beginning of time that a glaring fault would remove me from the workforce,” Blair went on to share, recalling how she felt before even being officially diagnosed. “And usually it was my incoordination or getting stuck, too weak or sick, in my trailer – or any time, really. The vomiting or body issues were terrifying, [and the] baldness or rashes.” The Cruel Intentions star admitted that she went through a period where she was scared to be “found out, for fear that it would impact her career.

Now, however, Blair is a round part of her community, whom she says has been crucial in keeping her working. “I couldn’t have made a move – sometimes literally – without my allies in the Disabled community,” she said. “They blow my mind.” Blair added, “I didn’t imagine I could ever make a difference by showing up as myself and being open about my experiences. But when others with mobility aids rallied around my presence on the red carpet with a cane and in the midst of an MS flare, I noticed. I felt empowered to share… Now it’s a conscious choice to.”

Blair first shared the news of her MS diagnosis back in late 2018. A few months later, in February 2019, The Legally Blonde star sat down with Good Morning America correspondent Robin Roberts and shared what happened when doctors confirmed her illness. “I had tears,” she said. “They weren’t tears of panic, they were tears of knowing that I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control and there was some relief in that.”