Ellen DeGeneres reveals triple health diagnosis
Ellen DeGeneres has revealed that she has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, OCD and ADHD.
The American comedian spoke candidly about her health in her latest Netflix special, For Your Approval, which marks her comeback after receiving backlash over toxic workplace allegations.
DeGeneres revealed that she only received the diagnosis after she left her long-running daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres show.
The star learned she has “full on osteoporosis” - a disease that causes bones to become weak and more susceptible to fractures - after she took a “stupid bone density test.”
“I don’t even know how I’m standing up right now,” DeGeneres said.
“I’m like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower.”
Not only does she have osteoporosis, she said she was also diagnosed with arthritis.
“I had excruciating pain one day and I thought I tore a ligament or something and I got an MRI and they said, ‘No, it’s just arthritis.’ I said, ‘How did I get that?’ And he said, ‘Oh it just happens at your age,’” she recalled.
She also explained that after the backlash and "hatred" she received from fans following claims that she created a work environment that bred "racism, fear and intimidation", she started going to therapy as it took a toll on her mental health.
That was when she learned she had OCD and ADHD.
“I was in therapy for a while trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me,” she shared. “And you know, it was not a common situation for a therapist to deal with.”
She continued, “I may have OCD because a therapist said so and I said, ‘Yes I am very organised,’ because I thought that was the O. I didn’t know what OCD was.”
“I was raised in a religion, Christian Science, that doesn’t acknowledge diseases or disorders,” she explained. “So when I was growing up, nobody talked about anything. There was no discussion of anything.”
Despite the circumstances, DeGeneres tried to lighten the mood saying: “My ADD makes it really hard to sit down and focus on anything at all.
"I mean, do you know how hard it was for me to put this together? Of course you don’t. Why would I ask that question? It’s hard for me to focus,” she told a laughing crowd.
“So, I have ADD, I have OCD, I’m losing my memory. But I think I’m well-adjusted, because I obsess on things, but then I don’t have the attention span to stick with it, and I quickly forget what I was obsessing about in the first place. So, it takes me all the way around to being well adjusted, I think.”
She also revealed her thoughts on getting cancelled, telling the audience: “We have all these unwritten rules based on gender about acceptable behaviour. If we don’t follow those rules, it makes people uncomfortable. And if people are uncomfortable, there are consequences.”
But regardless, she said it all worked out for the better.
“I’m happy not being a boss or a brand or a billboard, just a person."
Images: Instagram