by Ellen DeGeneres revealed that she has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD.
During her latest Netflix special, “For Your Consideration,” which premiered Tuesday, the 66-year-old comedian opened up about her recent triple diagnosis as she opened up about growing older.
DeGeneres recalled taking a “stupid bone density test” at her doctor’s recommendation and discovering she had “full-blown osteoporosis.”
“I don’t even know how I’m standing up right now. I’m like a human sandcastle. I could fall apart in the shower,” she told the audience.
Ellen DeGeneres revealed that she had been diagnosed with osteoporosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD. (Alberto Rodriguez/E! Entertainment/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when bone mineral density and bone mass decrease, or when the structure and strength of the bone changes. The disease can lead to a decrease in bone strength, which can increase the risk of bone fractures, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
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Almost 20% of women aged 50 and over have osteoporosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DeGeneres further admitted that “it’s hard to be honest about aging and seem cool,”
“One day I was in excruciating pain and I thought I had torn a ligament or something. I got an MRI and they said, ‘No, it’s just arthritis.’ I said, ‘How do I get that?’ And he said, ‘Oh, it just happens at your age,'” the former “Ellen” actress said.
DeGeneres talked about growing older during her new Netflix special. (Netflix)
DeGeneres also shared that her therapist diagnosed her with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The “Finding Dory” told the audience that she went to therapy because she was “trying to deal with all the hate coming my way.”
“I’m like a human sandcastle. I could fall apart in the shower.”
In July 2020, DeGeneres’ long-running daytime talk show “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was rocked by toxic workplace allegations from former people, as well as allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior by ousted producers. DeGeneres apologized in a statement to her staff and apologized again during the show’s 18th season premiere in September 2020.
In 2021, DeGeneres announced that her show would end after its 19th season. The final episode aired in May 2022.
During her Netflix special, DeGeneres said, “I might have OCD because a therapist said so and I said, ‘Yes, I’m very organized,’ because I thought that was the O.”
“I didn’t know what OCD was,” she continued. “I grew up in a religion, Christian Science, that doesn’t recognize any diseases or disorders. So when I was growing up, no one talked about anything. There was no talking about anything.”
DeGeneres told the audience that she could “fall apart in the shower.” (Netflix)
“Looking back on it now, I realize my dad definitely had OCD,” DeGeneres said of her late father Elliott.
She continued: “He checked the doorknob fifteen times before we left, he checked the faucet fifteen times, he unplugged it before we left the house because lightning could strike and catch fire. They say it could are hereditary.”
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, OCD is a “long-term disorder in which a person experiences uncontrollable and recurring thoughts (obsessions), engages in repetitive behaviors (compulsions), or both.”
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The comedian said that after her therapy session, she asked her wife Portia de Rossi if she thought DeGeneres might have OCD.
“And she said, ‘Yes, you do,’” DeGeneres recalled. “I could barely get that line out. It’s funny. I never thought of myself as obsessive. I think of myself as cautious and everyone else as careless and out of control.”
DeGeneres has announced that she will be leaving the public eye following the release of her Netflix special. (Getty Images)
Additionally, DeGeneres shared that she has attention deficit disorder (ADD), which is now called ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
ADHD is a “developmental disorder characterized by persistent symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity that interfere with functioning or development,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
“My ADD makes it very difficult to sit down and concentrate on anything,” DeGeneres said.
“I mean, do you know how hard it was for me to put this together?” she added of her specialty.
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“Of course not,” DeGeneres continued. “Why would I ask that question? Why would I ask that question? Why do people ask people questions that they know they don’t have the answers to?”
“It’s hard for me to concentrate,” DeGeneres admitted as the audience laughed.
“So I have ADHD, I have OCD and I’m losing my memory,” she said. “But I think I’m well-adjusted because I’m obsessed with things, but I don’t have the attention span to stick to them, and I quickly forget what I was obsessed with in the first place.”
“So it takes me a long way to be well adjusted, I think.”
DeGeneres joked that having osteoporosis, ADHD and OCD makes her “well-adjusted.” (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
At the end of her special, which she says will be her last before she retires, DeGeneres thanked her audience.
DeGeneres admitted that in the past she “cared way too much about what other people think of me.”
“But with time you gain perspective, which is a good thing about getting older,” she said. “It doesn’t completely compensate for arthritis or brittle bones. But when you look at it in perspective, you realize that caring about what people think is healthy to a certain extent, but not if it damages your mental health.”
“So after a lifetime of worry, I just can’t do it anymore. So I won’t,” she said as the crowd cheered.
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DeGeneres continued, “But if I’m honest, and I have a choice between people remembering me as someone who was mean, or as someone who is loved.”
“Lovers,” she added. “That’s what I choose.”
