Selma Blair explains why she ‘cried with relief’ following her multiple sclerosis diagnosis

On Oscars night, Selma Blair stepped out for the first time since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And following her post-Oscars appearance, the star spoke out about her diagnosis as well.

After making an inspiring and rather triumphant appearance on the red carpet of the Vanity Fair Oscars Party, Selma Blair was apparently ready to speak out about what it means for her to have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. While the actress has known since October (or at least that was when she revealed the diagnosis to the world), her appearance on Good Morning America on Feb. 26 was her first time really opening up about everything.

During her first interview back int he spotlight, Blair admitted that she had attended the party during a flare-up — specifically one dealing with spasmodic dysphonia which, as Entertainment Weekly points out, is a neurological issue that targets the voice, changing the way the actress sounded as she spoke.

While Selma Blair may have been in the midst of a flare up, that did not stop her from saying that she was actually doing well. In fact, according to the actress, just knowing what her diagnosis is has helped her in many ways.

Blair explained that after she was diagnosed, she was in tears. But it wasn’t tears of anger or panic, it was almost relief. For the actress, “They were tears of knowing that I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control and there was some relief in that.”

As the mother to a 7-year-old, there have been times when it has been extremely hard, but she said that knowing about the MS after so much time of not knowing and having doctors not take her seriously has allowed her a chance to let go of a lot of guilt she has felt. For her, it is about making sure that her son feels safe, while also being able to take care of him without him having to take care of her.

And while the actress may have a disease that she will live with for the rest of her life, she also has a lot of hope. She has been told that there is a chance she could regain up to 90 percent of her abilities just in the next year, which inspired her to tell GMA that she would see them in 2020 for an update.

While we certainly hope to see more of the star before 2020, we are also inspired by her resilience and ability to step out and speak up. From her stunning red carpet moment on Oscars night, to actually sitting down during a flare-up to tell the world how she is doing and what the diagnosis meant to her, Selma Blair is an inspiration. She is clearly not letting her MS keep her down, and we are always here for things like that.

Watch the full interview here: