It is always difficult for parents to accept a diagnosis that declares their child to be suffering from an illness. But that is not why Ozzy Osbourne chose to disbelieve the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis that his son Jack Osbourne received.
Apparently, when he was only 26 years of age, Jack Osbourne was told by his doctor that he has multiple sclerosis, a chronic condition that attacks the nerve cells which are found in the brain as well as the spinal cord.
Usually, symptoms are noticeable and include numbness, speech as well as muscle coordination impairment, blurry vision, and also a severe sense of fatigue.
Doubting The Diagnosis
While multiple sclerosis is not a very rare disease, it is still difficult to diagnose due to similarities of symptoms with other medical conditions.
That is why, when Jack’s father Ozzy went for a checkup back in the 90s, he was also mistakenly given a diagnosis for MS, as revealed by the now 33-year-old TV personality.
Of course, a follow-up checkup disproved this initial diagnosis, but it also made Ozzy develop a new theory which suggested that most medical diagnoses are wrong, especially when it comes to MS. And even though medical science has taken leaps and bounds in methods over the years, paving way for better, more accurate diagnostic tools, when his son Jack got diagnosed with MS, he simply refused to believe it, at first.
After he did believe the news, Ozzy commented that he felt sad as well as completely shocked, but also added that the bravery that his son has shown after having received his diagnosis is much more than he would have been able to muster had he received the same diagnosis.
His Mom’s Reaction
But his mother was quick to accept the diagnosis and, according to Jack, did not take the news too well. According to an interview which his mom, Sharon, gave to People magazine back in 2012, it was revealed that both Sharon and Ozzy’s first reaction to the news was a pressing question; what had they possibly done wrong in his upbringing that he was now suffering from MS?
Dealing With Depression
With any chronic illness, there is a risk of falling into depression. According to an interview which Jack gave to Yahoo, he talked about the fact that his chronic illness had caused him to fall into a depression which continues to be with him to this day. According to him, every few days in a week he would feel depressed, even though nothing, in particular, would act as a trigger for it.
In the same interview, Jack also commented on how dealing with depression is not given much attention whenever MS is discussed. Back in June, Jack commented that his three children, who he had with his ex-wife, have been a strong support system and have helped him to cope with his depression episodes, mostly because the many tasks he has to perform for them offer a healthy distraction from the depressive thoughts that would otherwise plague his mind.