Ellen DeGeneres reveals triple health diagnosis
<p>Ellen DeGeneres has revealed that she has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, OCD and ADHD.</p>
<p>The American comedian spoke candidly about her health in her latest Netflix special, <em>For Your Approval</em>, which marks her comeback after receiving backlash over toxic workplace allegations. </p>
<p>DeGeneres revealed that she only received the diagnosis after she left her long-running daytime talk show, <em>The Ellen DeGeneres show</em>. </p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>“I don’t even know how I’m standing up right now,” DeGeneres said. </p>
<p>“I’m like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower.”</p>
<p>Not only does she have osteoporosis, she said she was also diagnosed with arthritis. </p>
<p>“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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>That was when she learned she had OCD and ADHD. </p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p> “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.”</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>But regardless, she said it all worked out for the better. </p>
<p>“I’m happy not being a boss or a brand or a billboard, just a person."</p>
<p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>
<p> </p>
