Numerous musicians and admirers crowded the Marquee Ballroom of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 1 to celebrate Joni Mitchell’s music at the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala. “Both Sides Now” was powerfully performed by Billy Porter. The night’s artistic directors were Brandi Carlile and Jon Batiste, two candidates for the Grammy Awards in 2022.
Even though the performance was spectacular, Mitchell’s presence made it extra special. The singer’s appearance was up in the air, said Billboard. Over the years, Mitchell’s public appearances have been few. In addition to recovering from a brain aneurysm in 2015, she also suffered from Morgellons Disease for many years, an uncommon and contentious medical illness.
Following a brain aneurysm, Mitchell was discovered unconscious in her home in 2015. Despite having to relearn how to walk, polio survivor Mitchell quickly regained her speech. Mitchell was “making good progress,” according to a later NME story. She received daily therapy, and soon she was walking once more.
However, Mitchell had been unable to perform and travel for years prior to developing an aneurysm due to a different disease. She gave herself the diagnosis of Morgellons Disease, which many medical professionals believe to be a delusion.
According to Mitchell, who spoke to the LA Times in 2010, she suffers from a “strange, incurable sickness that seems to be from another planet, but my health is better than it’s been in a while. I went out for the first time since December 23 two nights ago. Under incandescent light, I don’t seem too bad, but in daylight, I appear terrifying.
“Fibers in a variety of colors sprout out of my skin like mushrooms after a downpour,” Mitchell said of her ailment. “They cannot be forensically classified as animal, vegetable, or mineral. A terrorist disease, Morgellons will blow up one of your organs, leaving you bedridden for a year. It is a slow, unpredictable murderer.
I am a polio survivor, so I am aware of how conservative the medical community can be. However, I have a strong will to live.
According to Billboard, Mitchell stated, “I couldn’t wear clothing,” in her 2014 book Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words. For a number of years, I was unable to leave my home. I occasionally found myself having to crawl across the floor. Similar to a polio spasm, my legs would begin to cramp. It affected every area of my body where I had polio.
Doctors are skeptical that it’s real, despite what the singer of “Case of You” and others claim. According to Billboard, it was only given that name in 2002 by Mary Leitao, a lab worker from Pennsylvania.
Patients claim that fibers develop from skin sores, maybe as a result of microscopic parasites, according to Billboard. The illness is also said to cause crawling feelings, intense itching, and general fatigue/mental fog.
“Although victims have banded together behind organizations like the Morgellons Research Foundation, the condition is still not acknowledged by the general medical profession. There aren’t many accurate statistics on the number of sufferers because it isn’t a recognized condition.
The Mayo Clinic asserts that the illness is psychosomatic, according to Slate. The Centers for Disease Control did not discover any environmental or viral origins of the illness in a report on Morgellons that was published in 2012.
All affected area biopsies either came out negative or positive for skin disorders like dermatitis, indicating that the illness known as “unexplained apparent dermopathy” is psychological. According to Billboard, patients who self-diagnose with Morgellons frequently receive treatment for delusional parasitosis (the belief that they are parasite-infested).
According to Mitchell, her ailment in America “is always classified as ‘delusion of parasites,’ and they send you to a psychiatrist,” according to the LA Times. I’m genuinely wanting to leave the music industry so that I can fight for Morgellons patients to get the respect they deserve.
She reportedly said to The Star in 2013: “I’m not cured but I’ve found a helpful doctor who thinks outside the box. According to conventional medicine, this is a mental illness that doesn’t even exist. It isn’t.
Given how frequently people self-diagnose, some claim that the Morgellons disease is psychosomatic. They look for solace in their fellow sufferers’ pain rather than accepting a doctor’s conclusion that there is no medical explanation for their symptoms, according to Billboard. According to Torie Bosch of Slate, “many are unwilling to accept such a diagnosis because of the stigma of mental illness.”
The Mayo Clinic nonetheless states, “Further study is needed,” though.
Mitchell is recovering despite her condition.
According to the Guardian, Mitchel told Cameron Crowe in 2020 that she was “inching” her way along. “I’m improving slowly but surely, and I’m making progress. Once more, I was unable to move. I had to rediscover how. I was speechless. The aneurysm really took away a lot more from me than the polio did, she claimed.
“Took away my capacity to speak and walk. And while I immediately regained my speech, I continue to have trouble walking. I mean, I’m a fighter, but. I’m of Irish ancestry! As a result, I was aware that “here I go again, another battle.”
Mitchell has started a new chapter in her life since that time. In 2021, she received awards from both the MusiCares Gala and the Kennedy Center.
I find it astounding how much attention my work has recently received, as well as the reception I’ve had when I’ve attended Clive Davis’ Grammy festivities. She told the LA Times in 2021, “He introduces me, and that audience gives me this deafening applause.
“Every time someone tells me how the song has impacted them, I’m so moved. I find it fascinating that the intimacy ultimately paid off greatly, despite the criticism. People were able to confront their own intimacy, you know? Beauty and truth. I intend to deliver that.
Mitchell has demonstrated that she will never let her illness prevent her from doing the things she loves. Her increased visibility will please her fans.
