Celebrities who have struggled with eating disorders
Gabourey Sidibe discusses her past experiences with bulimia and depression
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CELEBRITY Health
Eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are equally as detrimental on the mind as they are on the body, and they can lead to extremely serious health issues for the rest of your life. It may not also be obvious when a person is struggling with an eating disorder, especially as the annual numbers continuously prove that the issue is more common than one might think.
Actress Gabourey Sidibe recently opened up on an episode of Taraji P. Henson's show 'Peace of Mind' about her experience with bulimia. Sidibe said her disordered eating "was like a self-defense mechanism" for her depression, and that "It wasn't about losing weight, it wasn't about controlling my appetite, it truly was about how it stopped me from crying." Sidibe added that it didn't help that people were telling her she was "looking good," while she was bulimic.
Fortunately the actress has since repaired her relationship with her body and her mind, but Sidibe's story is a reminder that eating disorders do not solely affect thin white women, and that sometimes even our well-meaning compliments about a person's weight can have harmful affects.
The pressure to have the perfect body has led some celebrities to suffer these eating disorders, with some cases becoming so serious that they actually had to be hospitalized. Today these stars have luckily overcome their conditions, but click through to find out who they are.
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