Ellen DeGeneres shares news on triple diagnosis

The comedian also recalled experiencing what she described as “excruciating pain” at one point.

Initially, she believed she might have torn a ligament.

After undergoing an MRI, however, doctors reportedly told her she had arthritis.

The experience prompted DeGeneres to reflect on some of the less glamorous realities of getting older.

“It’s hard to be honest about aging and seem cool.”

But her physical health was only part of what she discussed.

DeGeneres also revealed that therapy led her to learn more about her mental health, including diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly known as OCD, and ADHD.

She explained that growing up, conversations about diseases and disorders were largely absent from her household.

DeGeneres was raised in Christian Science, a religious tradition that shaped how her family approached illness.

“I was raised in a religion, Christian Science, that doesn’t acknowledge diseases or disorders. So when I was growing up, nobody talked about anything. There was no discussion of anything.”

Looking back, DeGeneres said she believes her father may also have displayed behaviors associated with OCD.

She recalled:

“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.”

Later in the special, DeGeneres also discussed having ADHD.

The condition can affect a person’s ability to sustain attention, manage impulses, and regulate activity levels.

Once again, she approached the subject through humor, joking that some of her different symptoms almost seem to cancel each other out.

“So, I have ADD, I have OCD, I’m losing my memory.”

She continued:

“But 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. So, it takes me all the way around to being well-adjusted, I think.”

DeGeneres’ comments offered audiences a more personal look at her life away from television.

For years, she was best known as the host of *The Ellen DeGeneres Show*, where her upbeat personality and celebrity interviews made her one of the most recognizable figures in daytime television.

Her Netflix special presented a somewhat different side of the comedian, as she openly discussed getting older and learning things about her health that she had not fully understood earlier in life.

Despite addressing conditions that can have serious effects on physical and emotional well-being, DeGeneres repeatedly used humor to process what she had learned.

Her comments also highlighted how some people may go years without recognizing certain health conditions, particularly when symptoms were not openly discussed during childhood.

Now, DeGeneres appears willing to talk publicly about those experiences—even when the subjects involve fragile bones, chronic pain, mental health, or the sometimes uncomfortable realities of aging.

And in typical Ellen fashion, she found a way to make audiences laugh while doing it.