Christina Applegate announced her MS diagnosis in August 2021.
Christina Applegate is opening up about her mental health. On the latest episode of the MeSsy podcast, which the actress co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate discussed her mental health struggles in the wake of her MS diagnosis.
"I'm in a depression right now, which I don't think I've felt that for years. Like a real, f**k it all depression where it's kind of scaring me too a little bit because it feels really fatalistic," Applegate said. "I'm trapped in this darkness right now that I haven't felt... [in] I don't even know how long, probably 20-something years."
Though it's approaching the three-year anniversary of Applegate's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, the Dead to Me star said she's "still mad" about the situation.
"I don't enjoy living. I don't enjoy it," she said. "I don't enjoy things anymore."
Though the podcast was just released, it was recorded months ago, shortly after Applegate made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Emmy Awards in January.
"I did the thing, the television thing. That was, like, the hardest day of my life," she admitted. "Started at 11 o'clock in the morning and didn't get home until 9:30. I think I slept for two days straight after that. I couldn't even function."
Now, Applegate said she's "kind of just giving up" with everything, save for Sadie, the 13-year-old daughter she shares with her husband, Martyn LeNoble.
"You know me," Applegate told Sigler. "I'm so like, 'Well you know this is it. I'm just going to lay in bed and sleep all the time and then when my daughter needs me, I'll be there for her and I'll do everything for her.'"
Sigler, who is also battling MS, assured Applegate that she knows that "it's so hard to live in a disabled body," but tried to get her to see things a different way.
"What makes it harder is when you compare it to how it used to be... Once we get you to this place where we're accepting that this is how it's going to be, maybe forever... [coping with MS] is not a reason enough for you to stop living," Sigler said. "Because I sit here across from you and you still make me laugh like nobody else can. You still make me smile. You make me feel loved."
Sigler continued by telling her friend, "I can't let you give up. I can't. I need you to do it for me. I'm hoping that this podcast will also show you even more of your value and show you how incredibly strong you are and how much you deserve to give yourself a chance."
This isn't the first time Applegate has gotten candid about the struggles associated with her health battle. During an April episode of her podcast, she admitted to thinking "it would be easier on everyone if I wasn't here."
"Wouldn't it be so much easier and not a burden on my daughter who was on vacation and watching her mom sleep all day? And me not being able to go with her to the Barbie movie and stuff because I can't sit through a movie because my legs hurt too much," she said. "Just things like that. I think, 'What is this doing to her?' And that's where my heart breaks constantly."
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