‘Scared’ Christina Applegate admits she ‘doesn’t enjoy living’ as she gives distressing insight into MS diagnosis
Christina Applegate has opened up on life after being diagnosed with MS, revealing she is struggling with 'fatalistic' depression.
The Married... with Children actress, 52, was diagnosed with the multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2021 and has since been open on adapting to life with the chronic disease.
According to the NHS, MS is an illness which impacts the brain and spinal chord which can cause a wide range of symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.
There are currently no known cures for MS, however there are treatments available which can manage the illness and its symptoms. Average life expectancy is also reduced for people with MS.
Advert
Opening up on how being diagnosed with the illness has impacted her mental health on her podcast MeSsy, which she shares with friend Jamie Lynn-Sigler - who also has MS - Applegate revealed she has been in a 'real, f**k it all' depression.
"This is being really honest...I don't enjoy living. I don't enjoy it. I don't enjoy things anymore," the actress admitted.
She continued: "If someone can come over and lay in bed with me and talk, like you have and like a girlfriend of mine did the other day... that's enjoyable. I enjoy that.
"But if someone's like, 'let's get up and go for a walk' or 'let's go get a coffee', I'm like, I don't enjoy that process."
Applegate went on to explain how having MS has left her struggling with depression, adding: "I'm in a depression right now.
"Like, real depression, where it's kind of scaring me too a little bit because it feels really fatalistic. It feels really 'end of', you know not saying that, I don't mean that, I just mean like I'm trapped in like this darkness right now that I haven't felt like that in I don't even know how long, probably 20 something years."
Sopranos actress Sigler - who was diagnosed with MS at age 20 - tried to comfort the actress, urging her not to compare her life to how it was before the diagnosis.
"It's so hard to live in a disabled body. It is so hard. I will not take that away from you and I am right there with you," she replied.
Sigler went on to acknowledge that its hard not to make comparisons, but finding acceptance will take some of the 'suffering' away.
"But what makes it harder is when you compare it to how it used to be. I mean I still do it all the time, but in the moments where I have just a little more acceptance.. it takes a little bit of the suffering out of it," she added.
Applegate also reflected on her appearance at the 2023 Emmys, where she presented the award for 'Best Supporting Actress' in Comedy - where she received a standing ovation from the crowd.
She revealed to Sigler that it was the 'the hardest day of my life' due to the physical demands of the event.
"I think I slept for two days straight. I couldn’t function," she added.
Topics: Health, TV and Film, Christina Applegate
Brenna Cooper