A television actor known for her role on The Boys has publicly disclosed her years-long battle with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition caused by an overactive thyroid. The actor spent approximately two years experiencing debilitating symptoms—including extreme fatigue, cognitive decline, heart palpitations, and memory loss—before receiving a diagnosis in May 2025.
Diagnostic Odyssey
Before arriving at the correct diagnosis, multiple potential conditions were considered, including post-birth-control syndrome, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, clinical depression, chronic fatigue, an intestinal parasite, burnout, and IBS. The actor notes that the varied and non-cohesive nature of her symptoms made them difficult to identify through online resources. She describes the experience of not being believed by medical professionals and feeling unable to advocate for herself while cognitively impaired by the illness itself.
The symptoms began subtly around September 2023, when she was 29 years old, with disproportionate fatigue relative to her workload. By approximately two years later, the fatigue became incapacitating, causing her to sleep through alarms and up to 19 hours straight on weekends. Additional symptoms included mood swings, weakness and numbness in hands and feet, and most significantly for her work, severe short-term memory deterioration that made learning lines difficult while filming.
Public Struggle and Recovery
The actor was filming the final season of The Boys while managing these symptoms publicly. She describes feeling physically present but mentally unreachable for two years. Following the May 2025 diagnosis confirmation through antibody testing, treatment began. However, recovery proved complex: she was hospitalized on August 1, 2025 following a severe mental-health crisis, months after beginning treatment.
The actor reflects that clarity brought unexpected grief—for lost time, professional impact, and the psychological toll of prolonged hormonal dysregulation. She emphasizes that autoimmune disease extends beyond physical symptoms into psychological consequences. Now, a year into treatment, she describes reframing strength not as endurance through suffering, but as allowing oneself to be changed by hardship. Her decision to speak publicly stems from recognizing that illnesses disproportionately affecting women remain minimized or misunderstood, and she hopes her transparency helps others recognize symptoms earlier.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://time.com/article/2026/05/21/graves-disease-erin-moriarty-essay/