UPDATE 2:12 P.M. EST: Melanie took to Twitter on Friday to clarify her comments, saying:
Just to clarify…. pic.twitter.com/7E4ZeDFosk
— Melanie Griffith (@MelanieGriffith) October 20, 2017
Stress is not kind to the brain.
That’s one thing Melanie Griffith stressed when speaking on her history with epilepsy during a Women’s Brain Health Initiative panel this week.
The Working Girl actress has kept her serious health diagnosis private for years, but opened up about her condition on Wednesday night’s panel, which was moderated by Sharon Stone, who suffered a stroke in 2001.
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Griffith revealed she had been diagnosed with epilepsy six years ago after having two seizures during the Cannes Film Festival in 2011.
The 60-year-old said she was on a yacht outside of Cannes when it all happened, remembering:
“I had this major grand mal seizure and they took me to the hospital in Cannes and then brought me back to the boat. And then I had another seizure and I went back [to the hospital]. They did the EEG and started to look at it seriously.”
Once back in the U.S., the actress said she was diagnosed with epilepsy, adding she never knew about her condition because “no one paid enough attention to even diagnose me.”
Noting her seizures occurred at times where she was “extremely stressed out,” Griffith said she’s been seizure-free for four years — and claims the healing process began after her split from Antonio Banderas. Recalling the end of their 18-year marriage, the Oscar nominee joked:
“I got divorced, which is a real healer for me.”
We bet! Since then, Dakota Johnson‘s mom has been making an effort to lead a healthier, stress-free life — and her body noticed.
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After recently visiting the Health Nucleus facility in San Diego for genome testing to see if she still had epilepsy, Griffith received a clean bill of health. She explained:
“They did all the tests on my brain. They couldn’t find the epilepsy; they couldn’t find anything wrong. It’s pretty much that it was stress. My brain is fucked up. Really ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ you know?”
Reflecting on how fortunate she was to receive the best treatment, she continued:
“I thank God that I’m in a position where I was able to, like, find out where I could go to that’s the newest high tech place to find out the most information that I possibly can. If I was living in poverty with four kids, and I couldn’t make ends meet and I had a fucking seizure, what do you do? How does the average person, man or woman, get the help?”
Good question, Mel. At least we know divorce usually helps.
Jokes aside, we applaud the actress for opening up on her condition and the changes she made to overcome it.
@MelanieGriffith & host @sharonstone at the VIP Conversation for Women’s Brain Health Initiative #womenshealth #vip pic.twitter.com/3JFE1utmg7
— Patrick McMullan (@PatrickMcMullan) October 19, 2017
[Image via FayesVision/WENN.]
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