The Tragic Health Issues That Plague Ellen DeGeneres

The following article includes discussions of mental health.

Ellen DeGeneres' true age may not always be reflected in her youthful appearance, but the calendar doesn't care about elegant, gender-neutral clothes and hip hairstyles. The former talk-show host is nearing her 70s, and her body feels it. In 2024, DeGeneres revealed she had been diagnosed with osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones and makes them susceptible to fractures, and arthritis, which causes chronic inflammation in the joints. Both conditions more commonly affect older women.

DeGeneres noted that her osteoporosis was pretty advanced. "I'm like a human sandcastle. I could disintegrate in the shower," she joked in her 2024 Netflix stand-up comedy special "For Your Approval" (via New York Post). Around the same time, she began to experience pain so intense that she sought medical attention, thinking she had suffered a torn ligament. But her ligaments were fine. "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,'" she shared.

While her physical body felt the weight of the years, her brain had been suffering from two disorders undetected: OCD and ADHD. She was diagnosed in the aftermath of the allegations that DeGeneres fostered a toxic workplace. She also noted she was probably on the autism spectrum, though not enough to warrant a diagnosis. Her remarks didn't go over well with the autism community. "Was she hoping she could use autism as a shield for her behavior towards her staff & gain followers back?" a Reddit user pondered. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time DeGeneres faced health setbacks.

Ellen DeGeneres' downfall may have cleared the way for her OCD and ADHD diagnoses, but she had long struggled with her mental health. In 1997, the comedian developed severe depression after she came out as lesbian, which prompted the cancellation of her sitcom and left her unable to find work. "Nobody really understood how dark it got for me. I was really, really in a deep depression," she told The Associated Press in 2017 (via Page Six).

The bullying exacerbated her mental condition for practical reasons as well. "It was scary because I was also running out of money," she told the Mail on Sunday in 2016 (via Irish Independent). DeGeneres' struggles with depression persisted through the years. In 2021, she explained that the person the audience saw on her show and onstage was genuine because that was a part of her. "I'm a performer, and it's easy for me to turn that on," she told Today's Savannah Guthrie.

However, she highlighted that she did struggle to evoke that side of her whenever she was in a depressive or anxious state. "What's not easy is for me to turn it on when I feel sad inside. That's the depression," she said. Over the years, she found ways to manage her condition. One of them is transcendental meditation, a practice she fell in love with after years of unsuccessfully trying to meditate. "Something about TM, it is the only time I have that stillness," she said at a 2012 event. 

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.