Christina Applegate Says She Has Faced ‘Real Depression’ Due to MS Diagnosis: ‘Trapped in Darkness’

"I can’t let you give up,” Jamie-Lynn Sigler tells her friend on the new episode of their podcast 'MeSsy'

Christina Applegate is opening up about the "real depression" she's faced since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021.

"I'm in a depression right now, which I don't think I've felt that for years," Applegate says on the latest episode of MeSsy, the podcast she shares with friend Jamie-Lynn Sigler. "Like a real, f--- it all depression where it's kind of scaring me to a little bit because it feels really fatalistic. I'm trapped in like this darkness right now that I haven't felt like... I don't even know how long, probably 20 something years,"

The new episode was recorded not long after Applegate, 52, made a surprise appearance at the Emmy Awards in January, which Applegate referred to as "the hardest day of my life," saying that she slept for "two days" afterward.

Related: How Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler Are 'Helping Each Other Through' MS: 'We Both Needed This' (Exclusive)

With the toll that MS has taken on her body, Applegate says, "This is being really honest...I don't enjoy living. I don't enjoy it. I don't enjoy things anymore."

Sigler, who has been living with MS for more than 20 years since she was diagnosed while starring on The Sopranos, tells Applegate she understands the frustration.

"It's so hard to live in a disabled body. It is so hard. I will not take that away from you and I am right there with you," she says. "But what makes it harder is when you compare it to how it used to be....Once we get you to this place where we're accepting that this is how it's going to be, maybe forever...[coping with MS] is not a reason enough for you to stop living because I sit here across from you and you still make me laugh like nobody else can. You still make me smile. You make me feel loved."

Sigler, 43, who shared with PEOPLE in March in a cover story how important her friendship with Applegate has become, tells her "I can't let you give up. I can't. I need you to do it for me."

Applegate is "incredibly strong," Sigler says: "I'm hoping that this podcast will also show you even more of your value and show you how incredibly strong you are and how much you deserve to give yourself a chance."

The Dead to Me actress admits she's been reluctant to seek out therapy since she learned she had MS while filming the final episode of the show. "I have avoided therapy since I've been diagnosed because I'm so afraid to start crying and that I'm not going to be able to end crying," Applegate says. "I just am so I'm so afraid for those floodgates to open and that I won't be able to stop." But, Applegate says, she did get back in touch with her longtime therapist.

Related: Christina Applegate Says Having MS Has Changed Her as a Parent: ‘It’s Heartbreaking’ to Say ‘I Can’t’ (Exclusive)

Sigler urged her to allow herself to open up: "I feel like you owe it to yourself to cry and really, really go there....You gotta just, you gotta allow yourself to feel that stuff. You can't keep pushing it away, otherwise you're gonna be where you're at right now. You're like in a purgatory, you know?"

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.