Self has stated that he has abstained from drugs, except for caffeine and nicotine, since 1998. In 2024 he wrote: "I gave up smoking – and indeed, consuming nicotine in any way, shape or form – almost six years ago". In the same column he revealed that he had been diagnosed with myelofibrosis. It is a progression of the blood disease polycythaemia vera with which he was diagnosed in 2011.
Self has stated that he has abstained from drugs, except for caffeine and nicotine, since 1998. In 2024 he wrote: "I gave up smoking – and indeed, consuming nicotine in any way, shape or form – almost six years ago" In the same column he revealed that he had been diagnosed with myelofibrosis. It is a progression of the blood disease polycythaemia vera with which he was diagnosed in 2011.