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Debby Ryan has opened up about a serious brain injury that changed her life and left her unable to function normally for months.
The former Disney Channel star shared the deeply personal details while appearing on Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals, revealing that she has experienced five concussions over the course of her life.
But one of those injuries was dramatically different from the others.
Ryan said the fifth concussion involved sustained shaking lasting more than a minute.
Afterward, her health changed in ways she had never experienced before.
“I had a pretty crazy life-altering brain injury a few years ago, and I was out of commission for like six months,” she said.
For roughly half a year, Ryan underwent neurological rehabilitation as she tried to regain abilities and functions that had been affected by the injury.
The experience became so significant that she now describes her life as having two distinct versions of herself.
There was the Debby Ryan who existed before the injury.
And there was the person she became afterward.
She referred to them as “pre-incident Debby” and “post-incident Debby.”
For someone who had spent much of her life performing in front of cameras, the sudden neurological changes forced her into an unfamiliar reality.
Ryan first became widely known through Disney Channel, appearing as Bailey Pickett on The Suite Life on Deck.
She later became the star of Jessie, playing Jessie Prescott from 2011 to 2015.
Her career continued beyond Disney, including the Netflix series Insatiable and other film and television projects.
But behind the scenes, Ryan was dealing with something audiences knew little about.
Her rehabilitation lasted for months.
She also tried a treatment she personally described as “fringe science,” saying it felt almost like something out of science fiction.
According to Ryan, the treatment helped her feel as though parts of her brain were coming “back online.”
But the recovery was not complete.
Some things, she said, simply did not return.
That realization forced her to confront the possibility that some of the changes could be permanent.
During that period, Ryan said the people closest to her became an essential part of her recovery.
They helped remind her who she had been before the injury while also allowing space for the possibility that she might not return to exactly the same person.
That support became especially important as Ryan adjusted to changes in the way she processed the world around her.
Even after months of rehabilitation, some symptoms remained.
One of the most difficult has been migraines.
Ryan described herself as a “migraine warrior,” explaining that the episodes can make everyday surroundings feel overwhelmingly intense.
Lights can feel too bright.
Sounds can feel too loud.
Ordinary sensory information can become difficult to process.
At times, Ryan said she has to close her eyes simply to think more clearly.
The revelation offered fans a rare look at a health struggle she had largely kept private.
But while the injury changed significant parts of her life, Ryan also made clear that recovery has not been defined only by what she lost.
And in describing what happened after those six months of rehabilitation, she revealed which effects still remain with her today.