Ellen DeGeneres Reveals Three Major Health Diagnoses: 'I Don’t Even Know How I’m Standing'
After taking a step back from the spotlight for the past few years, comedian Ellen DeGeneres is opening up about her current mental and physical health.
In her new Netflix special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, the former talk show host revealed that she's been diagnosed with several different conditions, including "full-on osteoporosis" (a common disease that weakens the bones).
“I don't even know how I'm standing up right now. I'm like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower,” DeGeneres, 66, said. “It's hard to be honest about aging and seem cool.”
“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,’” she added. “I said, ‘How did I get that?’ And he said, ‘Oh it just happens at your age.'”
DeGeneres also revealed her struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), admitting the way she was raised kept her from recognizing that there was anything wrong.
“I may have OCD because a therapist said so and I said, ‘Yes I am very organized,’ because I thought that was the O,” DeGeneres said. “I didn't know what OCD was. I was raised in a religion, Christian Science, that doesn't acknowledge diseases or disorders. So when I was growing up, nobody talked about anything. There was no discussion of anything.”
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“I look back now and I realize my dad for sure had OCD,” DeGeneres continued. “He would check the doorknob 15 times before we'd leave, he'd check the faucet 15 times, he would unplug all the appliances before we left the house because lightning could strike and it could catch fire. They say it could be hereditary.”
DeGeneres explained that she's also coping with ADHD.
“My ADD makes it really hard to sit down and focus on anything at all,” she shared. “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.”
“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 I don't have the attention span to stick with it, and I quickly forget what I was obsessing about in the first place,” DeGeneres said. “So, it takes me all the way around to being well-adjusted, I think.”
Next: Ellen DeGeneres Finally Breaks Silence on Getting 'Kicked Out of Show Business'
