How Christina Applegate copes with multiple sclerosis: ‘It’s how I keep myself okay’

Actress Christina Applegate was diagnosed with MS — a degenerative neurological condition — in 2021. Photo / Getty Images

Christina Applegate relies on a “sick sense of humour” to help her cope with multiple sclerosis.

The 52-year-old actress was diagnosed with MS — a degenerative neurological condition — in 2021, and she made light of her health struggles after walking on to a talk show with her cane.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week, she quipped: “I was thinking, wouldn’t it be funny if I came out and I did a somersault like Willy Wonka?

”And then I was like ta-da, you’d be ... ‘She is such a liar.’ I’m not. I literally am disabled.”

Kimmel replied: “I learned from our text exchanges you have a very sick sense of humour.”

And the Dead To Me star admitted: “It’s how I live. It’s how I keep myself okay.”

Applegate pointed out that if she weren’t laughing, she’d be crying all the time, and the late-night host added: “You probably do a little bit of that, I’m sure.”

Christina Applegate appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week. Photo / Getty Images

She teased: “Every day, when I wake up. It’s fine.”

She also showed off the way humour is one of her coping mechanisms as she reflected on the daily challenge of life with MS.

She candidly said: “I mean, it sucks. I’m not going to lie. And I think anyone who has MS isn’t going to be like, ‘This is the best thing that ever happened to me’.

”It really isn’t. Because that would mean you have a really crappy life if that’s the best thing, the best thing that ever happened to you is something like this.”

She turned to the studio audience: “It was a joke. You guys don’t get me!”

Applegate recently explained how sometimes she gets caught short because her reduced mobility means she doesn’t always make it to the bathroom in time, so she wears absorbent underwear to ease her discomfort.

Asked about the challenges of the condition that people don’t always realise, she told People magazine: “Well, you pee ... in your pants. Because you probably can’t get to the bathroom in time. So yeah, diapers.”

The publication noted Applegate “pulled down the waistband of her jeans for a peek at her pair, which feature a floral design”.