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Lily Collins Opens Up About Past Eating Disorder
British-American actress and model, Lily Collins, recently used her platform to open up about her former struggle with anorexia. In an unknown revelation to the mainstream media, Collins recently spoke openly about her own experience with an eating disorder as a teenager.
Collins has famously starred in several movies in the past, including Love, Rosie, and The Blind Side. Egressing from the characters in which she previously portrayed, Collins recently starred on her latest Sundance film, To The Bone, in which she depicts a young woman who is attempting to conquer her eating disorder by working with an unconventional doctor.
Bringing Anorexia To Light
The film itself, which was written and directed by Marti Noxon, recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was based on Noxon’s early struggle with an eating disorder. In accepting and playing the role of the young woman who battles anorexia, Collins also found her own window of opportunity to bring light to her own struggle with this disease. In recent interviews with IMDb and Vanity Fair, Collins highlighted her battle with anorexia as well as the experience of portraying a woman with this disease in the film, To The Bone.
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Collins recalls initially retracting from this particular acting opportunity, due to her fear of putting herself back into the painful situation and experience of her past eating disorder. However, Collins ultimately felt this would be an opportunity to shed light on an issue that is often misunderstood by the general public. Eating disorders are often falsely portrayed in Hollywood and the mainstream media, which may have also motivated Collins to participate in a film that highlights a real life experience with anorexia.
Challenging Eating Disorder Stereotypes
Ultimately, Collins decision to take this role and help bring the real issue of eating disorders to light is a step toward breaking the stereotypes that are often created about eating disorders and encouraging others to come forward for help. Eating disorders are severe psychiatric illnesses, yet because of the shame that continues to surround these diseases, such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, many are unable to connect to the help they need.
Collins recently shared her overall experience on her Instagram, sharing, “Owning my past, being open, and having no shame or regrets about my experiences. Sharing my history with eating disorders and how personal this film has been is one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life…”
This refreshing openness about the eating disorder struggle will undoubtedly create the opportunity for many to begin talking about their own experiences and connect to the help they need.
Community Discussion – Share Your Thoughts Here!
Did you watch To the Bone? If so, what were your thoughts?
About the Author: Crystal is a Masters-level Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) with a specialty focus in eating disorders, maternal/child health and wellness, and intuitive eating. Combining clinical experience with a love of social media and writing, Crystal serves as the Director of Content and Social Media for Eating Disorder Hope/Addiction Hope, where her passion to help others find recovery and healing is integrated into each part of her work.
As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Crystal has dedicated her career to helping others establish a healthy relationship with food and body through her work with EDH/AH and nutrition private practice.
The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.
We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.
Last Updated & Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on January 26, 2017
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com
Baxter Ekern is the President of Eating Disorder Hope. He is responsible for the management and operations of Eating Disorder Hope. Baxter has been lending his services to Eating Disorder Hope for several years but came on board as the full-time president in November 2016.
