When was Selma Blair diagnosed with MS? Actress says she has been "doing amazingly well" for about a year

Actress Selma Blair has an update about her Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Speaking to People Magazine at the 9th annual fashion Los Angeles awards of The Daily Front Row, the actress revealed that she was relapse-free from the disease. Blair announced her MS diagnosis in 2018. She said:

“I am doing amazingly well. I've been feeling great for about a year. But I am finally well enough to really, genuinely ... I always try and feel my best, but now that I actually have stamina and energy and getting out and going out isn't so scary.”

Selma Blair admitted she hadn’t spent much time thinking about her dreams. She explained that this shift likely began after her diagnosis, as she had often felt exhausted just trying to get through each day due to her health issues.

She shared that she realized she wasn’t sure what her goals were. At the moment, her focus on the future had become more career-driven, and she mentioned wanting to return to acting, with a few film projects already in development.

Selma Blair said she was still speaking up for people with chronic illnesses and focusing on healing. She reflected on how to move forward and find new energy, especially when someone hadn’t yet figured out what they wanted for themselves.

Selma Blair said her speech was impacted by spasmodic dysphonia

In an interview with ABC News in 2019, she said that when she was first diagnosed with MS, she didn’t know how it would affect her. At the time, her speech was impacted by something called spasmodic dysphonia.

Selma Blair explained that sharing her experience helped show what her journey with MS looked like at that moment, though it might change over time. She described MS as a “snowflake disease” because it was unique to each person, with no two cases being the same. Describing her struggles with the disease, she said:

“I was drinking. I was in pain. I wasn't always drinking but there were times when I couldn't take it and I was really struggling with how am I gonna get by in life and not taken seriously by doctors.”

Reflecting on the comments she received, Selma Blair said:

“Single mother, you are exhausting, the financial burden but the black hormonal premenopausal, post menopause. I mean I don't mean no one said she could get memory maybe we should just check it out.”

Before Selma Blair was officially diagnosed, she contacted Michael J. Fox because she didn’t know who else to talk to about the strange symptoms she was experiencing. She told him she was dropping things, had a tremor, her pinkie wouldn’t stop moving, and she couldn’t feel her leg. Even though she felt it might be inappropriate to reach out, he responded, and they eventually started talking.

In January 2025, Variety noted that Selma Blair returned to acting with three projects in hand. One of them was a movie, Stay Forte, directed by Doron Eran. Blair shared that the film was more than just a story.

It showed how strong people could be in the face of terrible events and how they came together during hardship. She felt proud to be involved in a project that represented the many different communities in Israeli society, including people from various religious backgrounds affected by the conflict.

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Also Read: When was Christina Applegate diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis?

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