Selma Blair on Managing Undiagnosed MS with Alcohol, Urging Christina Applegate to Get Checked

Selma Blair on Managing Undiagnosed MS with Alcohol, Urging Christina Applegate to Get Checked,Before getting her MS diagnosis in 2018, Selma Blair spent many years living in "terror" that her symptoms would be found out, and even afraid to seek treatment for the alcoholism she succumbed to in an attempt to manage her undiagnosed disease.

Selma Blair on Managing Undiagnosed MS with Alcohol, Urging Christina Applegate to Get Checked

It's no secret that Selma Blair struggled with alcoholism earlier in her career, but perhaps less known is the heartbreaking reason she did not seek treatment for it, and was terrified her other health issues might be exposed.

For decades, Selma Blair had been living with multiple sclerosis, but the actress did not finally and formally received a diagnosis until 2018. Up until that point, she only knew she was suffering a series of maddening and frustrating symptoms.

As part of her efforts to manage those, she admitted in a new interview with Vogue UK that she turned to alcohol. All that happened, though, was she had one more thing she felt compelled to hide from the public and her peers.

“I was worried since the beginning of time that a glaring fault would remove me from the workforce,” she admitted to the outlet of her various MS symptoms. “Usually it was my incoordination or getting stuck, too weak or sick, in my trailer – or any time, really.”

She said that she felt in very poor health during her time on “Hellboy,” where she was diagnosed with cat scratch fever and possible leukemia. All the while, as her alcoholism got out of control in an attempt to manage all of her symptoms, she feared doing anything about that, either.

“I couldn’t admit alcoholism or [access] treatment in my insurance for fear I’d be deemed an insurance risk,” she said. “I fell apart once I got back to LA.” She said that at this point, she was living her life in “terror.”

After her late 2000s sitcom “Kath & Kim” came to an end, Blair decided that she had no choice and effectively retired from acting. “My self-hatred was extreme. I could not manage well and I couldn’t even try to find work,” she said.

The problem was that by this point she was dealing with so many health issues that she started to spiral mentally as well. “I spent my days in bed, crying, sometimes binge drinking, sometimes reading and sleeping, seeing doctors and healers,” she said. “I gave up almost until the diagnosis. I was always terrified I would be deemed incapable. Or mentally unsound.”

Since her diagnosis, she admits that she still hasn’t jumped back into the world of acting, though she did enjoy a turn on “Dancing with the Stars” before withdrawing for health reasons. That said, though, she’s confident it will happen.

“It hasn’t been the right time yet,” she said, “But it’s absolutely doable for me. I have to take the leap.” She also said that she believes producers might be “open to it now,” even as she worries about needing a space to “curl up and reset my nervous system once over-activated.”

She also takes seriously her higher profile as a visible person with a disability. “I didn’t imagine I could ever make a difference by showing up as myself and being open about my experiences,” Blair said. “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,” she added. “Now it’s a conscious choice to.”

As part of their interview about Blair’s advocacy since her diagnosis, Vogue reached out to her friend, Christina Applegate, who was diagnosed herself with MS in 2021. According to Applegate, it was Blair who convinced her to get checked out.

“I was sitting in Selma’s living room, our children playing, and I told Selma I’d been having this weird tingling in my feet,” Applegate shared. “She said, ‘You must get tested for MS.'”

She said that her doctor doubted Blair’s suggestion, but when they did test, she came back positive for it. “In essence, because of her I’m going to have a better quality of life,” Applegate said.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, get help. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress.