Christina Applegate Says She’s Battling Deep ‘Depression’ Amid Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis: ‘I Don’t Enjoy Living’

Actress Christina Applegate has opened up about the profound impact her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis has had on her mental health. 

Applegate, 52, best known for her role in the hit sitcom Married…with Children, first shared her diagnosis with the public in 2021 and has now provided a heartbreaking update on her continued struggle with the degenerative disease.

Speaking on her MeSsy podcast, Applegate expressed the depths of her current depression, a condition she hasn’t experienced in over two decades. “I’m in a depression right now, which I don’t think I’ve felt for years…Like a real, f—- it all depression where it’s kind of scaring me, too, a little bit because it feels really fatalistic. I’m trapped in, like, this darkness right now that I haven’t felt [in], like, I don’t even know how long, probably 20-something years.”

The actress went on to reveal the profound impact her illness has had on her enjoyment of life, and stated, “This is being really honest, I don’t enjoy living. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t enjoy things anymore.”

Applegate’s candor and vulnerability have struck a chord with her fans and the broader public as she continues to wrestle with the physical and emotional challenges posed by her MS diagnosis. Her podcast co-host, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also lives with MS, offered encouragement and support and urged Applegate not to give up.

“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 because I sit here across from you, and you still make me laugh like nobody else can,” Sigler said. “You still make me smile. You make me feel loved. I can’t let you give up. I can’t. I need you to do it for me.”

In January, Applegate received a standing ovation at the 2024 Emmys.