Thirteen Thursday: Celebrities with Eating Disorders

Amy Winehouse had a huge worldwide hit with the single “Rehab.” Bulimic since her teens, her struggle increased when the tabloids called her “fat.”

Christina Ricci admits to anorexia and self-mutilation. “I put on a lot of weight, which was very difficult for me. In a way, I was trying to get rid of my breasts. Everyone my age wanted them, so it was like, whoo-ooo. Then I started hating them. And for all of my movies, I was supposed to be younger, so I’d have to strap them down.”

Kate Beckinsale openly discloses her teenage struggle with anorexia. “People keep asking me about it but I don’t want to be famous for being a former anorexic.”

Princess Diana was a taboo buster. She publicly disclosed her challenges adjusting to her princess lifestyle and her struggles with bulimia and self-injury. “You inflict it upon yourself because your self-esteem is at a low, and you don’t think you’re worthy or valuable. You fill your stomach up four or five times a day - some do it more - and it gives you a feeling of comfort.” She purged several times a day, and disclosed those close to her were not supportive to her cries for help.

Karen Carpenter was a successful singer in the 1970s. Her first diet was a water diet suggested by her physician. After a 20 pound weight loss, she was 5-feet 4-inches and weighed 115. Over the next ten years she took unnecessary thyroid pills, overdosed on laxatives and starved herself. Her lowest weight was 85 pounds. At the age of 32, she died of cardiac arrest related to her anorexia.

Sharon Osbourne has survived cancer and life with Ozzy. Even after having her stomach stapled shut, she admitted to purging frequently with her family’s knowledge.

Maureen McCormick who starred as Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch says her battle with bulimia began after the show ended and she attended public high school where the other girls taught her how to purge.

Margaret Cho is a stand-up comedian, author and actress who openly admits she has struggled with both anorexia, bulimia, and abusing drugs to loose weight.

Sally Field says when she was 20, “everyone was Twiggy but me.” She began a three-year battle with bulimia during the filming of The Flying Nun.

Alanis Morissette suffered from anorexia and bulimia between the ages of 14 to 18. She restricted her diet to carrots, black coffee, and Melba toast.

Gilda Radner was known for characters like Roseanne Roseannadanna and Baba Wawa on the Saturday Night Live Show. She was bulimic, and once told a reporter she had “thrown up in every toilet in Rockefeller Center.”

Terri Schiavo entered into a vegetative state in 1990 as a result of bulimia and an “iced tea diet.” Potassium deficiency caused irreversible brain damage and put her into a coma. She remained in a vegetative state for the last 15 years of her life. She died when her feeding tube was removed.

Fiona Apple says her anorexia developed after being raped when she was 12 by an intruder at her mother’s house in New York City. She also admits to self-injury.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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