Comedian and actress Miranda Hart has opened up about a devastating health struggle that went undiagnosed for more than three decades, profoundly impacting her life and career.
A Decades-Long Medical Mystery
The Call the Midwife star has revealed in her candid new book, I Haven't Been Entirely Honest With You, that she has been battling Lyme disease - a bacterial infection typically spread to humans through infected ticks. Hart explained that she was first bitten by a tick during her teenage years while her family lived in Virginia, USA.
For the subsequent 33 years, the 52-year-old comic endured what she describes as a "horror illness" that remained unidentified by medical professionals. During this period, she experienced extreme fatigue, recurrent infections, joint pain, and cognitive difficulties that significantly affected her quality of life.
The Struggle of Being Misunderstood
At her lowest points, Miranda Hart found herself completely bedbound due to the condition's debilitating effects. She confessed that feeling "misunderstood and misjudged" represented one of the most challenging aspects of living with an undiagnosed chronic illness.
Her symptoms were initially misdiagnosed as anxiety-related disorders, leaving her without proper treatment or understanding of her condition for decades. Hart reflected that the illness "took everything away" from her life as she knew it.
Diagnosis and a New Perspective
The breakthrough finally came in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Hart received confirmation that she was suffering from reactivated Lyme disease. She described the diagnosis as bringing "tremendous relief" after years of uncertainty and suffering.
Following her diagnosis, the comedian took a five-year break from television, stepping away from the spotlight to focus on her health and wellbeing. She has since embraced a significantly simpler lifestyle that prioritizes her physical and mental health.
"I just wake up and think 'right, what am I going to do today?'" Hart shared. "It's walking the dog, it's playing games with my husband, watching telly and doing a bit of writing. I find life much 'free-er' and happier, because of that."
The experience has fundamentally changed her outlook on life. "When an illness takes everything away from your life, it rammed home to me sayings like 'you are not what you do' and 'you can't take it with you'," she explained. "Until you are older and you are faced with suffering, you don't realise how true that is."
While her last major television appearance was in January 2020, Hart has continued her creative work through writing. She has recently published The Christmas Tree That Wanted to Dance, a seasonal short story novel that continues her literary career alongside her new life at home with her dog and husband, building surveyor Richard Fairs, 60.
