Selma Blair became a well-known actress after her performances in iconic movies like “Legally Blonde,” “Cruel Intentions,” and “The Sweetest Thing.” In 2018, she revealed on instagram he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, or MS, a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Since then, she has used her platform to share her journey and advocate for people with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
Blair’s book, “Mean Baby,” became a New York Times bestseller when it was first published last year, and will be available in paperback starting Tuesday. The book details her struggle with MS, among other things.
Blair told “CBS Mornings” on Monday that she had been “always sick” since she was at least 20 years old. At 22, a doctor told her that she had optic neuritis, a common symptom of MS. Despite seeing neurologists for her chronic headaches and fevers, Ella Blair never considered the possibility of having a neurological disease.
It wasn’t until she was 40 that Blair received her official MS diagnosis. At that time, her symptoms had become increasingly difficult to ignore.
“When I got the diagnosis in my late 40s, I was shocked, but then I was like, ‘Oh, sure,’ and when the doctor said the first night, ‘You’ve had this for at least 25, 30 years, al least, “I was happy. I needed it,” Blair said.
Before that, she said she thought she was “a wimp”, being told continuously that she was in her head, or that she was depressed or experiencing what other mothers feel after giving birth. She also thought that she might have a mental illness that prevented her from differentiating between emotional and physical pain, and she said that she did not trust herself or her body.
To cope, he said he would drink and “go away.”
“So finding that out and saying, ‘Oh, there’s a story I can put together,’ was life-changing for me,” she said of her diagnosis.
Blair also opened up about her struggle with alcoholism and how she hit rock bottom in 2016 after a trip to Cancun, Mexico.
Despite the difficulties, Blair found solace in writing and was encouraged by her mother to follow her passion.
“I’m in remission with the help of my neurologist now, but to write that book I thought, ‘I hope someone can see that maybe there’s more or if they’ve done embarrassing things, you know the choices they’ve made, take it easy because you need to get out of that. It’s not going to help anyone to stay down and add to that,’” he said.