Everybody Hates Chris and Abbott Elementary actor Tyler James Williams is opening up about living with a chronic health condition, and he hopes his story will inspire others to prioritize their health and well-being.

In a recent interview with Blavity, Williams, 32, candidly discussed living with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel condition that can cause severe digestive symptoms, according to Cleveland Clinic. He is using his role as an ambassador for AbbVie’s “Beyond a Gut Feeling” campaign to raise awareness, empower IBD patients to advocate for themselves and facilitate conversations with doctors about long-term care.

In September, Williams participated in a virtual panel event with his gastroenterologist, Dr. Sophie Balzora, during which he discussed living with Crohn’s disease, coping strategies and the long-term steps he takes to maintain a healthy life.

“In this campaign, I can specifically point people in the direction of going, ‘Here are resources. Here’s what you should do. Talk to your gastroenterologist, have a conversation about where you are and what it is that you’re looking for by way of not only symptom relief, but your long-term goals,’” Williams said, emphasizing that his approach now is more of a “call to action” so that people don’t have to suffer in silence.

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When was Williams diagnosed with Crohn’s disease?

Williams had his first Crohn’s flare-up in 2012 without realizing he had the disease. He was in New York on a press run for the film Let It Shine, and he was struggling with debilitating symptoms the entire time. Williams was later diagnosed with the disease in 2015 at age 23. He was in and out of hospitals while working on other projects like Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and the 2017 film Detroit.

“That entire press run was me coming out of the hospital. And you see, I’m slowly putting weight back on. I had an ostomy for a lot of that run that I was just hiding under a sweater or a jacket,” Williams said.

He recalled how his illness had affected his personal and professional life. “It was so interesting because I was the one experiencing it, but I heard from people who experienced me at that time,” Williams said. “I wasn’t the best to be around.”

“I think the only answer at that moment I knew was painkillers, which also isn’t, you know, making you your best self. So a lot of my getting healthy wasn’t just a matter of how it felt for me, but yeah — I don’t think that I was a great person to work with or really be around at that time,” he added.

‘You just stay in a dark place’

Williams discussed conversations with his gastroenterologist about his health, who told him his case was rare because he had waited too long to seek help, something the actor has since learned from, according to his “Beyond a Gut Feeling” campaign video. He said he kept his illness a secret for years, thinking that other people wouldn’t understand what he was going through. Bearing it alone felt like the only way to cope.

Williams said managing Crohn’s disease also took a toll on his mental health. He started seeing a therapist to help him understand his daily emotions and their impact on life. “You just stay in a dark place if nobody helps to pull you out of it,” he said. “And very few human beings have the tools to get themselves out of an acute place of disease.”

“People don’t share it as frequently, or feel like it’s something that’s taboo that they can’t talk about — that there’s not gonna be anything to help it along the way anyway,” Williams said.

He continued, saying that he often felt like he “might as well just deal with them in silence, and I think that’s the trap that a lot of IBD patients fall into, and I fell into for a very long time. And as much as I can try to help pull people out of that, the better.”

Williams’ advice for Crohn’s and IBD patients as well as the Black community

Now in remission for two years, Williams has taken self-care to the next level by prioritizing his health. For IBD patients who are still struggling to maintain an everyday life, Williams said having the strength to press on through the tough times is what makes it your “superpower.”

“It’s very hard to see what you are surviving through as a superpower,” Williams said. “It took me a while to realize that just by the nature of the disease and how I was living, it required me to be so much stronger in ways than everybody else around me.”

“There are people who’ve been dealing with this for 20-some odd years and just think that this is it. This is as far as it’s gonna get for me. It doesn’t have to be the case,” he continued.

“Continue to talk to your gastroenterologist about what your long-term goals are and how you get there,” he said, “Also, you deserve it. You deserve to have a better quality of life. Advocate for yourself. Is this a good enough place to be? If it’s not, there are multiple ways. And I think everybody’s Crohn’s disease and IBD journey is different, and it shows up so differently with so many different people.”

Through the campaign, Williams encourages others with Crohn’s disease and IBD, and those who may have been neglecting their own health journeys, to be more proactive and listen to their bodies when something feels wrong.

“The message that we’re sending here is specific to people with IBD, but it’s also very universal,” he said. “And I hate to say it, but specifically in the Black community as well. We can oftentimes be very leery to go to a doctor and to have a conversation, or see going to a doctor as, ‘That’s when I find out something bad happens,’ not fully understanding that that was materializing over time. I hope our message gets through to everybody.”

The post Tyler James Williams Recalls Being ‘In And Out Of Hospitals’ During Press Runs Before Coping With Crohn’s appeared first on Blavity.



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