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Selma Blair is opening up her multiple sclerosis journey and why she was "thrilled" to receive her diagnosis.
The Legally Blonde star attended the PHM Healthfront 2025 event on Wednesday (April 30) where she spoke with People about she feels after being diagnosed with the chronic immune disease in 2018, comparing her reaction to that of others'.
"It's so funny. I felt like people thought it had to be some tragic thing, but I was like, 'No, you don't understand,'" she said. "I was feeling tragic inside before, and thinking this is just all psychosomatic and how can I change myself?"
Blair often wondered how other people were able to handle seemingly normal activities while she teetered from seeming "fine-ish" to feeling "so different."
Because relapse remitting multiple sclerosis causes new symptoms to appear or old symptoms to return for a brief time, per the MS Society, it was a long journey for her to be diagnosed. By the time she would visit a doctor, the symptoms would only be a "shadow" of what they were, leading her to question whether or not she was really okay.
"So my whole life felt kind of like gaslighting, even though no one was doing it intentionally," she said.
The Cruel Intentions actress was "so happy" and felt relief after finally getting her diagnosis because it validated her experience.
"I finally just felt seen. I kind of joke like, wait, there's receipts. This validates this vision here, this validates this or this or this, that people wouldn't really see because with relapsing MS, it can go away. It can relapse."
In February, Blair opened up about the aspect of her life before her diagnosis that she "truly missed," adding that she was "too ill" to enjoy one of her favorite pastimes.