Selma Blair has had an exceptionally tough time of it of late, but her days were never darker than when she tried to take her own life “a few times” prior to her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
Blair, 50, was diagnosed with the disease in August 2018, but not before being plagued for years with the physical and mental anguish brought on by symptoms of a condition she didn’t know she even had.
According to the actress herself, she suffered to such an extent that she “attempted suicide” more than once as doctors strove to get to the bottom of her health issues.
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The Brown’s Requiem star opened up in an interview with British Vogue magazine, stating: “As an adult, the lassitude and anxiety (from her MS) became terrifying, actually.
“I made mistakes. Wished myself dead. Attempted suicide. A few times. Out of desperation.”
Blair, who shares an 11-year-old son, Arthur, with her ex-boyfriend, Jason Bleick, told how she had suffered with horrible pain during the years where she struggled to get any sort of answer.
MS attacks a sufferer’s immune system and causes nerve damage to the brain and spine, and the 50-year-old spoke candidly on how life on various film sets was so painful that she turned to tranquilizers and alcohol for relief.
Blair said: “Sets were excruciating sometimes with the exhaustion and the tics. I took benzos and Klonopin (used to prevent seizures and anxiety disorders.)
“I didn’t abuse those things, just alcohol. But I was lost and sad and could hardly ever smile. Hence my roles, I imagine.”
In her 2022 memoir, Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up, Blair revealed that she had tried to take her own life after a painful breakup with one of her exes, Todd. The actress recalled how she’d snuck into his closet while he slept and swallowed a bottle of Tylenol with tequila.
However, Blair had second thoughts and so woke Todd up to tell him what she’d taken.
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The actress said that particular attempt to die by suicide had exacted a cruel toll on her mother, who refused to speak to her for two years afterwards.
“It’s the worst thing she did to me,” Selma told Elle magazine.
“I know I broke her trust. I had tried to kill myself – even if it was only for 10 minutes. As outlandish and critical as she was, she would never get over one of us dying, especially by our own hand.
“I was dead to her for two years – either as punishment or perhaps she was bracing herself for the next time.”
We think Selma Blair is incredible brave for speaking so open and honestly about her struggles with such a crippling disease.
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