Ellen DeGeneres shares three recent health diagnoses during special
Ellen DeGeneres revealed she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD. ( Alberto Rodriguez/E! Entertainment/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Ellen DeGeneres revealed that she has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADHD.
During her final Netflix special "For Your Consideration, which premiered on Tuesday, the 66-year-old comedian opened up about her recent triple diagnosis as she got candid about aging.
DeGeneres recalled that she took a "stupid bone density test" at the recommendation of her doctor and learned that she had "full-on osteoporosis."
"I don’t even know how I’m standing up right now. I’m like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower," she told the audience.
Osteoporosis is a "bone disease that develops when bone mineral density and bone mass decreases, or when the structure and strength of bone changes. The disease can "lead to a decrease in bone strength that can increase the risk of broken bones, per the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Nearly 20% of women aged 50 and over have osteoporosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DeGeneres went on to admit that "it's hard to be honest about aging and seem cool,"
"I had excruciating pain one day and I thought I tore a ligament or something and I got an MRI and they said, ‘No, it’s just arthritis.’ I said, ‘How did I get that?’ And he said, ‘Oh it just happens at your age,'" the former "Ellen" actress said.
DeGeneres also shared that her therapist diagnosed her with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The "Finding Dory" told the audience that she entered therapy as she was "trying to deal with all the hatred that was coming at me."
In July 2020, DeGeneres' long-running daytime talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" was rocked by toxic workplace accusations from former, as well as allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior by ousted producers. DeGeneres issued an apology to her staff in a statement and apologized again on-air during the premiere of the show's 18th season in September 2020.
In 2021, DeGeneres announced that her show would be ending after its 19th season. The final episode aired in May of 2022.
During her Netflix special, DeGeneres said "I may have OCD because a therapist said so and I said, ‘Yes I am very organized,’ because I thought that was the O."
"I didn't know what OCD was," she continued. "I was raised in a religion, Christian Science, that doesn't acknowledge diseases or disorders. So when I was growing up, nobody talked about anything. There was no discussion of anything."
"I look back now and I realize my dad for sure had OCD," DeGeneres said of her late father Elliott.
She continued, "He would check the doorknob 15 times before we'd leave, he'd check the faucet 15 times, he would unplug all the appliances before we left the house because lightning could strike and it could catch fire. They say it could be hereditary."
Per the National Institute of Mental Health, OCD is a "long-lasting disorder in which a person experiences uncontrollable and recurring thoughts (obsessions), engages in repetitive behaviors (compulsions), or both."
The comedian said that after her therapy session, she asked her wife Portia de Rossi if she thought that DeGeneres might have OCD.
"And she said, ‘Yes, you do,’" DeGeneres recalled. "Barely got that sentence out really. It's funny. I've never thought of myself as obsessive. I think of myself as careful and everyone else careless and out of control."
DeGeneres announced that after the release of her Netflix special, she will be leaving the public eye. (Getty Images)
In addition, DeGeneres shared that she has attention deficit disorder (ADD), which is now referred to as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
ADHD is a "developmental disorder marked by persistent symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity that interfere with functioning or development," per the National Institute of Mental Health.
"My ADD makes it really hard to sit down and focus on anything at all," DeGeneres said.
"I mean, do you know how hard it was for me to put this together?" she added of her special.
"Of course you don't," DeGeneres continued. "Why would I ask that question? Why would I ask that question? Why do people ask people questions they know they don't have the answer to?"
"It's hard for me to focus," DeGeneres admitted as the audience laughed.
"So, I have ADD, I have OCD, I'm losing my memory," she said. "But I think I'm well-adjusted because I obsess on things, but I don't have the attention span to stick with it, and I quickly forget what I was obsessing about in the first place."
"So, it takes me all the way around to being 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 has said will be her last before she retires, DeGeneres thanked her audience.
DeGeneres admitted that in the past, she "has cared far too much what other people think of me."
"But with time you gain perspective, which is one good thing about aging," she said. "It doesn't totally make up for arthritis or brittle bones. But with perspective, you realize that caring what people think to a degree is healthy, but not if it affects your mental health."
"So after a lifetime of caring, I just can't anymore. So I don't," she said as the audience cheered.
DeGeneres continued, "But if I'm being honest — and I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who was mean, or someone who is beloved."
"Beloved," she added. "I choose that."