An estimated 20% of people who suffer from anorexia pass away from causes related to the disease. In addition to that, 50% of anorexic people are either bulimic or participate in bulimic actions. These statistics alone should be enough to scare us into being cautious of what we may fall into and give us the ability to recognize if there is an issue.
Take it from these four very strong and brave women who faced their issues head on, got the treatment they needed and blossomed into the amazing role models they are today.Zosia Mamet
This Girls star had been struggling with negative body image thoughts since the age of eight. She opened up about her disorder in the September issue of Glamour stating that she was “waiting to die”. She would starve herself or workout too hard and even though she was thin, she could not stop. Her father finally approached her and got her to treatment and even after she was released she struggled and lost weight. Zosia found that her disorder wasn’t about losing weight, “Really these diseases are about control: control of your life and of your body.” Today she is healthy yet her negative thoughts have not gone away completely. Zosia taught us that with a lot of help, support and self-awareness, the road to recovery is long but extremely doable.
Demi Lovato
Demi has actually struggled with eating disorders on both sides of the spectrum. There was a point in her life where she would overeat and then went on to not eating enough starting at the age of 12. Along with dealing with her physical health, she has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
She’s had her fair share of hardships to say the least. In 2010, Demi seeked help at the Timberline Knolls treatment center. Although she was uncomfortable at first, she stuck it out and got the help she needed. Demi stated, “I’ve spent the past two years getting over an eating disorder and issues like self-harming and bipolar disorder. Unlike a person who doesn’t have these problems, I have to work on this stuff every day. I’m reminded of that whenever I eat or feel down.” Seeing how strong she had to be while dealing with two very difficult situations at once should be motivation that anything is possible.Lady Gaga
Although we all love Lady Gaga just the way she is, she admits that she’s not always confident hence why she battled bulimia as a teenager. “So I’m not that confident. I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina, but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night. “ Back in 2012, Gaga posted curvier pictures of herself on LittleMonsters.com captioned, “Bulimia and anorexia since I was 15.” She recently said that singer, Tony Bennett, has “saved her life” as she was going through a rough time. He told her, “stay true to yourself,” and that is exactly what she is doing.
Kesha
“I felt like part of my job was to be as skinny as possible and, to make that happen, I had been abusing my body,” Kesha stated when opening up about her eating disorder battle. She’s very open about the fact that being behind the camera so much made her feel as though remaining thin, no matter how much she was hurting herself, was what she needed to do as a celebrity. She eventually woke up and and realized that she needed to recover. Kesha, like Demi, seeked help in a Chicago treatment center and extended her stay to two months. She learned so much about herself and has become such an inspiration, spreading a great message to her fans. “My whole message is to love who you are and accept all your beautiful imperfections.”Kesha, we couldn’t agree more!
The hardships experienced by these women could not have been easy. It took hard work and dedication to get to where they are now and their stories should be a lesson to all of us that beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes. Be proud of who you are, be confident and learn to shrug off the negativity. It could save your life and will most definitely keep you healthier and happier.
(Feature photo via Refinery 29)