Selma Blair Says Doctor Told her to 'Get a Boyfriend' Before MS Diagnosis

Selma Blair is opening up about the bias within the medical field she faced as a woman before ultimately being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018. The Cruel Intentions actress, who has been in remission since 2021, shared her experiences of having her symptoms dismissed by medical professionals during a new interview with Meet the Press' Kristen Welker.

In the interview, Blair recalled a particularly upsetting incident in which a doctor suggested that her painful symptoms might improve if she simply found a boyfriend. "I just cried," Blair remembered of her frustration at having her symptoms not be taken seriously. "I had no capability to process. 'What am I supposed to do with this information?' I knew the pain was real. I thought it was. But I did start to convince myself, 'You're overly sensitive. There's nothing wrong with you. Get it together, you lazy, lazy whatever.'"

Blair experienced the same kind of gender bias as a child, when she said she spent years having her symptoms minimized or dismissed, despite similar symptoms in her male peers being treated seriously. "It was a gender bias, a lot of it, because there would be a boy in my grade that would go in for the exact same chronic headache and fever, and he is in surgery and a MRI within the week," she explained. "I was never given a MRI even though I always had headaches and fevers and balance [problems]. But they just said, 'Oh, just dramatic.'"

Now at 51, Blair can see the impact that kind of treatment had on her mental health, revealing that she has "so much medical trauma" from early experiences in that field. When she was finally diagnosed with MS in 2018, however, Blair said she was relieved to finally have an explanation for all of her symptoms, noting that she "finally had something that could be understood and treated."

The Legally Blonde actress is now urging medical professionals to truly listen to their patients with chronic symptoms. "I really wish they would listen," she insisted, pointing out that as a woman "nothing was taken seriously." She wondered, "I want doctors to listen, keep things in mind. And why so afraid of a MRI on a woman?" Now, Blair is in remission and feels like she is in a "safe place to be," sharing that she is "doing better every day" in her MS journey.