Hollywood Millennials Who Won't Stay Silent About Their Health Struggles

Many millennial Hollywood celebrities have perfectly represented the growing health trends of their generation. While previous generations may have frowned upon openly speaking about health issues due to stigma, the younger generations welcomed the practice to break generational barriers, create a sense of community, and normalize open discussions about uncomfortable topics. Needless to say, millennial celebrities have been at the forefront of this change and have openly discussed their own health struggles. 

It's hard to deny celebrities entering the complex world of health and wellness can be a double-edged sword, given that they have the potential to spread misinformation. However, it's equally difficult to ignore that their openness can also bring awareness to overlooked health issues. To give just one example, when an A-list millennial like Selena Gomez opened up her lupus diagnosis, it created a massive surge in public awareness about the condition. 

According to Vogue, when Lupus Research Alliance President and CEO Kenneth M. Farber spoke at an event, he shared how Gomez's openness had triggered a positive change, saying, "When Selena mentioned Lupus, we got more calls asking for information in one day than we typically get in an entire month." Another millennial celebrity, Lady Gaga, stirred a similar change in a slightly different way by opening up about fibromyalgia. Chatting with MichiganMedicine.org, Dr. Daniel Clauw, director of Michigan Medicine's Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, said he was hopeful that the iconic singer's openness about her diagnosis would help people who had similar symptoms but were being dismissed by their doctors to get accurately diagnosed. Thanks to Lady Gaga, Gomez, and numerous other Hollywood millennials, awareness about several health issues has greatly increased.

In an October 2015 interview with Billboard, then-23-year-old Selena Gomez revealed that she had taken a brief break from the public eye to privately deal with her lupus diagnosis, which she had received in 2013. Lupus is an autoimmune condition that causes the immune system to damage the body's organs and tissues through inflammation. While tabloids had been hard at work trying to convince the world that she had entered rehab for addiction issues, Gomez had actually been undergoing chemotherapy and worrying about having a stroke. 

During an October 2017 appearance on "Today," the "Calm Down" songstress shared that she had continued to prioritize her work even while she was dealing with the numerous symptoms of lupus that people shouldn't ignore, including fevers, headaches, and constant fatigue. Ultimately, Gomez was forced to slow down when she learned that she would have to get a kidney transplant due to the autoimmune disease. Only hours after the "Only Murders in the Building" star underwent the vital surgery, which would replace her kidney with her friend Francia Raisa's, she developed debilitating pain that made her hyperventilate. 

Soon enough, doctors discovered that her kidney was flipping around due to an issue related to her arteries, and she would have to undergo another 6-hour-long surgery. Gomez and Raisa said that the grueling recovery process required them to be on bed rest, avoid the stairs, and only walk for an hour daily. They both also required aid in accomplishing everyday tasks like showering. Still, it was thanks to that kidney transplant that Gomez's arthritis resolved, her blood pressure reduced, her energy returned, and the chances of her lupus returning dipped to 3 to 5%.

During an April 2023 episode of Meghan Trainor's "Workin' On It" podcast, she opened up about her experiences with a health issue that not many celebrities talk about: vaginismus. The condition is defined by pain during intercourse, which is caused by involuntary contractions in the vaginal walls during penetration. During the "All The Bass" hitmaker's podcast episode, she admitted that she felt a "stingy burning" after intercourse and sometimes even had trouble walking. Ultimately, she was baffled after learning that most women did not feel pain during and after intercourse. At one point, she also had to ice herself to relieve the pain. Of course, that wasn't the only time that the millennial celebrity opened up about a lesser-talked-about health issue. 

During an April 2023 episode of the "Today" show, Trainor shared that she had also developed postpartum PTSD after welcoming her first child, son Riley, in 2021. After stating that the root of her condition stemmed from having to undergo a C-section while she was still awake, Trainor said, "I felt like I was jumping out of a plane. The whole time, I was just with my husband shaking. I was just like, surrender. ... Truly, you lose control, and it's all right." After returning home, the "No" songstress continued to feel the pain from the procedure and felt as if she were back on the operating table. It was only after she discussed her symptoms with her doctor that she realized that she had postpartum PTSD.

Taking to X in September 2017, Lady Gaga revealed that she had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition caused by the nervous system having a heightened response to pain signals. A person diagnosed with the condition could deal with muscle pain, fatigue, and brain fog. A few days after revealing the diagnosis, the "Applause" hitmaker announced on Instagram that she had to reschedule the remainder of shows on her Joanne Tour because she was "suffering from severe physical pain." 

Lady Gaga also wrote that the chronic pain from the condition prevented her from enjoying a regular life and following her lifelong passion of performing in front of a crowd. Speaking at Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour in January 2020, the Grammy winner revealed that she had pushed through "insurmountable pain" to perform on tour. For nearly five years, Lady Gaga dealt with a pain so debilitating that she thought she might die, all while undergoing countless tests that came back with no results. Since her condition hadn't been diagnosed at the time, she had to perform without medication or therapy. 

Even after she had received her fibromyalgia diagnosis, her psychiatrist had continued to refer to her condition as "neuropathic pain or a trauma response." In an October 2018 Vogue interview, Lady Gaga expressed her frustrations with people who refused to see fibromyalgia as a real health issue. After explaining that she had dealt with numerous mental health issues that triggered her nerve pain, she said, "Chronic pain is no joke. And it's every day waking up not knowing how you're going to feel."

Speaking to Cosmopolitan in January 2020, Lena Dunham shared that she had first started experiencing debilitating pain, which almost made her lose consciousness, at around the age of 13.  Over the next decade, doctors continued misdiagnosing her with appendicitis and food poisoning. It was only when she turned 27 that doctors suggested that she may have endometriosis, a condition in which the uterus grows an outer lining similar to the inner lining.   

The "Girls" star's experiences were like others with her condition, as it takes around four to 11 years on average to get an endometriosis diagnosis after the symptoms first surface, per an article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dunham strongly believed that the reason it took so long for her to get accurately diagnosed was due to people's refusal to talk about women's bodily issues like bleeding, bloating, and diarrhea, as well as the belief that women were "hysterical" about their pain. 

Dunham went on to share how her pain had changed her relationship with her body, saying, "Pain does not inherently make you feel sexy; pain doesn't make you feel beautiful, but in another way it's forced me to really take ownership of my body and express my needs." As a result, she was able to express her sexual needs to her partners more vocally and draw boundaries around what she wanted to wear for photoshoots. In a February 2018 article for Vogue, Dunham shared that she had undergone a hysterectomy at the age of 31 since it was one of the few available treatments for endometriosis.

Taking to Instagram Stories (via People) in July 2022, Halsey shared they had been through numerous health struggles since they welcomed their first child in 2021. Although the "Without Me" songstress had dealt with health issues throughout her life, she found that they had greatly amplified after she had given birth. For starters, her allergies to "basically everything" had triggered an anaphylaxis reaction, which had sent her to the hospital. 

After visiting countless doctors for symptoms, which Halsey didn't mention in their post, they were finally diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sjogren's syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), and POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a condition that causes constant joint pain, among other symptoms, due to a weakening of the body's connective tissue, while Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune condition that commonly causes dryness in the mouth and eyes due to an issue with the functioning of glands. MCAS is a rare condition that causes repeated episodes of allergic reactions on multiple body parts, and POTS is a condition that triggers a rapid increase in heart rate when a person goes from sitting or lying down to standing up.

Moreover, in a September 2025 TikTok video, Halsey shared that she was undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs), a condition that causes the body to overproduce abnormal white blood cells that have the potential to turn into lymphoma or leukemia. Although Halsey was unable to stand following the treatment, she still looked forward to rehearsals for her tour. Additionally, the truth about Halsey's experience with endometriosis is well-known because she has spoken about it at length.