{"id":19719,"date":"2026-03-07T23:22:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/christina-applegates-honest-answer-to-the-worst-question-you-can-ask\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T23:22:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:22:06","slug":"christina-applegates-honest-answer-to-the-worst-question-you-can-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/christina-applegates-honest-answer-to-the-worst-question-you-can-ask\/","title":{"rendered":"Christina Applegate\u2019s honest answer to the worst question you can ask"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How are you?<\/em><\/p>\n

When you live with a chronic disease, this everyday question can feel like a trap.<\/p>\n

“Does this person really<\/em> want to know how I’m doing — or is she just being polite?” you wonder. If you opt to share the actual truth, is the nascent conversation going to screech to an uncomfortable halt?<\/p>\n

As someone who has lived with multiple sclerosis<\/a> for a decade, when I’m asked this question, I usually say I’m fine, even if I’m not. There’s a great deal of pressure on folks with chronic illnesses to feign wellness so we don’t make people regret speaking with us.<\/p>\n

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There’s a great deal of pressure on folks with chronic illnesses to feign wellness so we don’t make people regret speaking with us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Yet there are many days when this incurable, degenerative autoimmune disease<\/a> makes me most definitely not<\/em> fine, like during hot and humid summer months when the areas of my brain that MS damaged make me ill. Or when my MS fatigue — imagine you’re a smartphone that suddenly can’t hold a charge — renders me unable to function or think properly.<\/p>\n

This is why Emmy-winning actor Christina Applegate’s candid descriptions of how she’s faring with her MS make me feel seen and understood. During the publicity tour for her new memoir, “You with the Sad Eyes<\/a>” — released during MS Awareness Month<\/a> — Applegate has said that sharing the difficult truths about the effects of the disease, refusing to sugarcoat it, is her goal.<\/p>\n

In an interview, People magazine described the “Dead to Me” and “Anchorman” star as needing to lie in bed most days because of physical pain from her condition. “People’s lives … f–––ing suck sometimes,” Applegate said. “So I’m being as honest and raw as I possibly can.”<\/p>\n

In an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live<\/a>,” Applegate also discussed her launch of a web platform for people with MS. “There’s got to be more communities that are not, like, sentimental and weird. I’m weird. … Let’s talk weird about MS.” In a promo video for the site, Next In MS, she promised to share everything from “honest conversations about the ugly truths to the real, genuine wins.”<\/p>\n

“Yes,” I thought, “more of Applegate’s brand of honesty, please.”<\/p>\n

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