After taking a break from the limelight, the 66-year-old comedian is back on TV screens with her new Netflix special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval.
She made headlines earlier this year when she claimed the comedy show marks the end of her Hollywood career.
DeGeneres told fans: “This is the last time you’re going to see me. After my Netflix special, I’m done.”
After hearing the talk show host’s sad health update in the special, fans have taken to social media and shared well wishes.
One fan writes: “Hope she gets better.”
“Hopefully she is getting the help she needs,” another adds. “Wishing her well.”
In 2020, everything changed for DeGeneres.
Two BuzzFeed exposés explored allegations of a toxic work culture, discrimination, and s**ual misconduct and harassment on the set of her once popular program, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Although the reports didn’t allege toxic behavior by DeGeneres herself, it led to the comedian facing a ton of criticism.
In 2022, she made the difficult decision to end her show following a decline in ratings and the fallout from the reports of a toxic work culture, reports The i.
In her new Netflix special, DeGeneres addresses this chapter of her life and how she sought therapy afterward.
The therapy uncovered the comedian has a mental health condition.
In her comedy special, she says: “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.”
DeGeneres explained that she was raised in a religion that ‘doesn’t acknowledge diseases or disorders’ so ‘nobody talked about anything’ like that when she was growing up.
According to the Mayo Clinic, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) ‘features patterns of unwanted thoughts and fears known as obsessions’ that can ‘lead people to do repetitive behaviors, also called compulsions.’
These obsessions and compulsions may affect the person’s daily activities and cause distress.
DeGeneres said upon reflection, she believes her father may also have suffered from the condition.
She recalls: “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.”
The comedian also revealed that she has been diagnosed with ADHD.
“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,” she says in the special.
“So, it takes me all the way around to being well-adjusted, I think.”
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (otherwise known as ADHD), is ‘a mental health condition that can cause unusual levels of hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors,’ per Healthline.
A person with this condition may struggle to focus on a single task or sit still for long periods.
Elsewhere in the Netflix special, DeGeneres also opened up about a condition she’s been diagnosed with that makes her feel like she ‘could disintegrate in the shower.’
The Finding Dory voice actor said she uncovered she’s suffering from osteoporosis after undergoing a bone density test.
“Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle – so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses such as bending over or coughing can cause a break. Osteoporosis-related breaks most commonly occur in the hip, wrist, or spine,” explains the Mayo Clinic.
“Bone is living tissue that is constantly being broken down and replaced. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone doesn’t keep up with the loss of old bone.”
Although there’s no cure for osteoporosis, the disease’s symptoms can be managed with medicines and lifestyle changes.
Opening up, DeGeneres says: “I don’t even know how I’m standing up right now. I’m like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower.”
