Taylor Swift shared a lot in her Netflix documentary Ms. Americanaspecifically, an eating disorder that she hid from the world and was often triggered by paparazzi photos or negative comments about her body.
“I thought I was meant to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show or in the middle of it. Now I realize, no, if you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows and not feel it. That’s a really good revelation because I’m much happier with who I am. I don’t really care if someone points out that I’ve gained weight. The fact that I’m a size 6 instead of a size 00 – that’s not how my body was meant to be. I understood that at that moment just not real,” the global pop star revealed in her documentary.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder in which a person becomes overly preoccupied with perceived flaws in their appearance.
These problems can focus on any part of the body, such as the skin, hair, weight or facial features, and can significantly disrupt daily life, relationships and self-esteem.
Can body dysmorphia lead to eating disorders?
Body dysmorphia can increase the risk of developing eating disorders, although they are two different conditions.
When concerns are specifically related to weight or body shape, individuals may engage in unhealthy behaviors such as restrictive eating, binge eating, or purging.
This can overlap with disorders such as anorexia nervosa, in which individuals severely restrict food intake for fear of gaining weight, or bulimia nervosa, which involves cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behavior.
However, not everyone with BDD develops an eating disorder. The connection depends on the nature of the body problems and other psychological factors.
