Selma Blair has said she attempted suicide when she was living with the health effects of multiple sclerosis but had not yet been diagnosed.
The actress, 50, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August 2018, spoke of how many symptoms manifested much earlier in her life that caused her great anxiety.
Speak against British Vogue, she said, “As an adult, the fatigue and anxiety actually became terrifying. I made mistakes. I wished myself dead. Suicide attempt. A couple of times. Out of desperation.’
Selma said she often had to mask her symptoms while working on movie sets and would self-medicate to cope with the pain.
She said, “Sets were excruciating at times with the exhaustion and the tics. I took benzos and Klonopin (used to prevent seizures and anxiety).
Candid: Selma Blair has said she attempted suicide when she was living with the health effects of multiple sclerosis but had not yet been diagnosed
“I wasn’t abusing those things, just alcohol. But I was lost and sad and could hardly ever smile. Hence my roles, I think.’
She added: ‘I’ve been afraid since the beginning of time that a glaring mistake would remove me from the workforce. And most of the time it was my lack of coordination or getting stuck, too weak or sick, in my caravan – or always.’
The Legally Blonde star said she would suffer from vomiting, hair loss and skin rashes and was diagnosed with cat scratch fever and possible leukemia while working on the film Hellboy.
She later took a break from the acting industry in 2009 after filming the American remake of Kath & Kim, saying her autoimmune system “failed”.
Selma said she often spent her days crying in bed during this time and worried that her health problems would prevent her from returning to work.
However, disclosing her MS diagnosis brought many positives for the star, who wrote a best-selling memoir called Mean Baby in 2022.
She was also one of the few disabled contestants to compete on Dancing With The Stars, but was forced to withdraw from the show due to health reasons.
The star said she is not currently looking for acting work, but does believe working in films would be “doable” with her MS.
Interview: The actress, 50, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August 2018, spoke of how many symptoms manifested much earlier in her life that caused her great anxiety
The actress was one of the notable figures participating in British Vogue’s Reframing Fashion issue, which features 19 talents with disabilities.
Elsewhere during the interview, Selma’s girlfriend and former co-star Christina Applegate gave Selma credit for telling her to get tested for MS.
Christina, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2021, said Selma told her to get tested for MS immediately after saying she had a strange tingling in her feet.
Christina added that she will now have a “better quality of life” thanks to Selma.
Health: Prior to her diagnosis, Selma suffered from vomiting, hair loss and skin rashes and was diagnosed with cat scratch fever and possible leukemia while working on the film Hellboy (pictured in Hellboy, 2008)
Hiatus: She later took a break from the acting industry in 2009 after filming the American remake of Kath & Kim, saying her autoimmune system “failed” (pictured in 2022)
Selma’s candid interview comes after she previously shared how she tried to end her life in college after her boyfriend broke up with her.
The actress has detailed her painful past and her decades-long struggle with alcoholism in Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up.
Selma said she dated Todd, her physical education horse trainer, but didn’t know how to handle the end of their relationship. After he broke up with her, she waited for him to sleep and went into his closet.
She tried to take her own life by swallowing a bottle of Tylenol and going after it with tequila, but changed her mind just before she was about to pass out.
Support: Selma’s girlfriend and former co-star Christina Applegate credited Selma for telling her to get tested for MS (Christina pictured in February 2023)
Career: Selma said she is not currently looking for acting, but does believe working in films would be “doable” with her MS (pictured with her service dog, Scout)
In a panic, she woke Todd and explained what she had done. His mother lived upstairs, and she was the one who called poison control and took her to the hospital.
Selma said she promised her mother as a child that she would tell her if life became unbearable for her. When she revealed she was trying to commit suicide, she expected words of wisdom. Instead, her mother told her she was dead to her.
“It’s the worst thing she’s done to me. I know I betrayed her trust,” she told Elle magazine about her late mother, who died in 2020.
‘I had tried to kill myself – if only for ten minutes. Bizarre and critical as she was, she would never get over one of us dying, especially at our own hand. I was dead to her for two years – as punishment or maybe she braced herself for next time.’
See the full article in the May issue of British available via digital download and on newsstands starting Tuesday, April 25.
For confidential support, call the Samaritans at 116123 or visit samaritans.org.