Selma Blair would 'self-medicate' to cope with undiagnosed MS

26 February 2019

Selma Blair would "self-medicate" and "drink" alcohol to help her cope with her chronic pain before being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2018.

Selma Blair

The 'Cruel Intentions' actress made her first public appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, on Sunday (24.02.19) - where she used a cane to support her movement - following months away from the spotlight after her diagnosis with the illness, which affects the central nervous system, disrupting the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and body.

The 46-year-old star has now revealed that when she finally got her diagnosis for MS in 2018, it was a "relief" because she was struggling to be "taken seriously" by doctors when she shared her medical problems.

Opening up to 'Good Morning America' on Tuesday (26.02.19), she said: "I was self-medicating when [Arthur] wasn't with me. I was drinking, I was in pain. I wasn't always drinking, but there were times when I couldn't take it. And I was really struggling with how am I going to get by in life.

"There were times when I couldn't take it and I was really struggling with how I'm going to get by in life not being taken seriously by doctors.

"I dropped my son off at school a mile away and before I got home I'd have to pull over and take a nap ... it was killing me. And so when I got the diagnosis, I cried with relief."

Selma - who has seven-year-old son Arthur with her ex, fashion designer Jason Bleick - insists knowing she has MS has been relief.

She added: "I am doing very well. Being able to just put out what being in the middle of an aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis is like. So my speech, I have spasmodic dysphonia right now ... It is interesting to be here to say this is what my particular case looks like right now.

"I had tears. 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. No one has the energy to talk when they're in a flare-up, but I do because I love a camera."