Celine Dion’s rare disease diagnosis sheds light on stiff person syndrome; meet a woman who has had it for years

‘It’s extremely challenging to deal with the constant pain, isolation, lack of awareness, people not understanding,’ says woman with little-known autoimmune disease

‘She looked scared to me and I know what that feels like,’ said Lauren McDermott on seeing Dion’s Instagram post describing the spasms and pain

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Lauren McDermott, like singer Celine Dion, suffers from stiff person syndrome. She explains why it matters that more people now know about it. Photo: Facebook

Tribune News Service

Published: 4:15pm, 14 Dec 2022

Lauren McDermott has a rare neurological condition called stiff person syndrome.

Since she was diagnosed in 2019, she has had to explain her illness, which causes her muscles to spasm painfully for prolonged periods, to almost everyone – even many of the doctors who evaluated her. It is an exhausting process that adds a layer of difficulty to her disability.

But the syndrome just got a lot of publicity. Canadian pop icon Celine Dion recently announced she is postponing her tour because she was diagnosed with the syndrome.

On Instagram, Dion said that she has been struggling with her health for a long time. She has been having muscle spasms and pain, which her care team recently attributed to stiff person syndrome.

“Unfortunately, the spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to,” she said.