Former Disney Star Debby Ryan Recalls Suffering a “Life-Altering Brain Injury”

Debby Ryan, who rose to fame with her starring roles on Disney Channel, has revealed that she suffered a “life-altering brain injury a few years ago.”

During a recent interview for Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals video series, the actress opened up about her long “hellish” battle with migraines, calling herself a “migraine warrior.”

“I had a pretty crazy life-altering brain injury a few years ago, and I was out of commission for like six months, and I went to this neurological rehab for like six months,” she shared. “Went and did this fringe science treatment that was like really sci-fi and crazy, and I’ve done it a couple times.”

Ryan, who previously starred in Disney’s Suite Life on Deck and Jessie, said the treatments helped get her “back online, but there are some things that just did not come back.”

She explained that the brain injury included “sustained shaking over a minute of time” and resulted in “pre-incident Debby and post-incident Debby.” The Insatiable actress added, “Specifically, after the fifth concussion, the brain injury made things significantly worse.”

Due to her condition, Ryan said that “she can see better and think better with my eyes closed” because the “world is really loud and too bright.”

She continued, “The visual data that I am taking in can be so distracting and so loud. The migraines were significantly worsened by that. If there is a thing that can make things really singular, I like that. I feel really fortunate that I have an amazing team of people around me who sort of reminded me who I am and was and also held a lot of space for that to change, potentially permanently, and love me through that.”

Ryan shares one child with her husband, Twenty One Pilots drummer Josh Dun.