Eric Dane has "no reason not to be in a good spirit" as he battles ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)

Speaking on a virtual panel to raise awareness of ALS, Dane explained: "I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day, I don't think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying.

"And I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realized that I wasn't built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me."

According to PEOPLE, Dane featured on the panel alongside I AM ALS and Synapticure co-founders Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya as well as Brilliant Minds creator Michael Grassi and Dr. Daniela Lamas, who acts as a writer and consulting producer on the TV show.

He went on to insist playing an ALS sufferer on TV was a one-off and he won't "ever do it again for anybody else", but the actor hopes the part raises awareness of the condition.

Dane - who has two daughters with his ex Rebecca Gayheart - added: "It's imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don't feel like my life is about me anymore ...

"You know, obviously, I have a family at home, and they're the priority. But this is such a big deal to me.

"I make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it's about, and more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape, because it's so rocky and littered with hurdles and bureaucracy and all this other nonsense that we're trying to sift through so we can get to a place where we go, start working on solution."

It comes after Gayheart admitted her relationship with the actor is "super-complicated".

The pair married in 2004 and they became parents to two girls - Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13 - before filing for divorce in 2008.

However, Rebecca withdrew the divorce petition earlier this year and she's doing the best she can to support him and their daughters since he was diagnosed with ALS.

During an appearance on the Broad Ideas podcast, she explained: "I am definitely trying to show [my daughters] that we show up for people no matter what. And he is our family, he is your father.

"We show up and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it, and that we will get through it the best we can. I mean, it's super complicated for me.

"We've been separated for eight years. The kids live with me 100 per cent of the time. There's been lots of just stuff, other stuff, but I try to stay optimistic about it all ...

"I'm trying to learn from it and [be a] role model for them [for] how to go through something like this, which is really hard."