An eating disorder is usually a pretty secret disease, and it's only when you're recovered (or in the process of recovery) that you tend to admit it. However, there are many celebs out there who feel it's their duty as a public figure to essentially be a face for the disease. Doing so might help reduce some of the sting, which could increase awareness and mean more people get the treatment they need to move on and recover. Many women (and men, too) suffer in silence thanks to the general lack of understanding of the different types of disorders, mental and physical health risks over the long-term, and just generally being afraid of owning up to harmful habits. Unfortunately, the following 15 celebs have been there, but fortunately they're brave enough to talk about their struggles, which can only help us all.
15 Anne Hathaway
It's unclear whether Anne Hathaway has had an official eating disorder since, of course, we don't personally know her. But the actress has spoken frequently about the pressure to be thin that she imposes on herself when she cares too much about external pressure. She often wonders if she's skinny enough. When she's been asked about whether or not she has an obsession with her weight, she's said, "If I'm honest, yes."
14 Kate Winslet
Kate has admitted that she was so into losing weight at one point that she even used (super dangerous) laxatives.
13 Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba's obsession with her body began at a young age, but really got out of control when she starred on Dark Angel. At that point in her life, she basically stopped eating and would compulsively exercise, too. She has shared that her family is overweight and so she started cooking at the young age of 12 to adopt a healthy lifestyle. But then that became an eating disorder. She has also shared that sometimes young girls get eating disorders because they're scared of puberty and their developing bodies.
12 Katharine McPhee
Katharine McPhee got candid in an essay for People about her history with eating disorders, and shared that they began when she was young and studying dance. She exercised compulsively, starved herself, and had bulimia. She has shared, "When I made it onto American Idol, I knew that food - my eating disorder - was the one thing really holding me back." The show forced her to recover and get herself back.
11 Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Simpson has been open about the fact that she got way too thin at one point by restricting food, and also that she was able to regain her normal eating habits. Her personal pressures seemed to have come from her peers and social life. As she said once, "I was around a lot of girls with eating disorders, and I actually had a minor one myself. My parents stepped in and made me eat. (It) was about six months of not eating too much at all." Luckily she now has a very different idea about the ideal body type and says she really likes her curves.
10 Troian Bellisario
The Pretty Little Liars star admits that her eating disorder started in high school as a way of trying to control her life and be "perfect" for her family and in school. She starved herself if she didn't do well in school and ultimately started eating again when her friends threatened to tell her parents. She's a good reminder that everyone has insecurities regardless of their place in life. She's told the press that it's an "ongoing struggle."
9 Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette recognizes that the pressure of fame and manipulation played into her disorders. She has spoken out about her teenage year struggles with both bulimia and anorexia. She felt she "was trying to protect myself from men who were using their power in ways I was too young to know how to handle." She urges young women to "discover her inner athlete. It's all about finding the activity you enjoy most and sticking with it."
8 Portia di Rossi
Portia di Rossi has shared that she began starving herself at the age of 12 when modeling agents told her to lose weight, and she then developed bulimia. When she acted on Ally McBeal, her eating disorder resurfaced. She admits that she restricted her food intake to 300 calories a day in addition to taking up to 20 laxatives a day. She has said, "I wanted to disappear. I didn't want to be attractive. Once I realized that starving would lead to sickness and possibly even death, I thought I could disappear just as easily being overweight as underweight.” The actress even wrote a moving memoir about her struggles, Unbearable Lightness.
7 Kesha
Kesha has never been one to shy away from sharing her troubles, and when she checked into rehab to treat her bulimia, it was no different. She's spoken out that she felt part of her singing career was staying super skinny: "I became scared to go out in public, or even use the Internet. I may have been paranoid but I also saw and heard enough hateful things to fuel that paranoia."
6 Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan has shared that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the ones who gave her a wake-up call when they had a small intervention about her worrisome weight loss after Saturday Night Live. Lindsay realized at that point that she had an issue and vowed to get better. She has said, "You have to hit rock bottom sometimes to get yourself back up to the top."
5 Lucy Hale
Lucy Hale is one actress who was able to catch a dangerous habit and stop it before it got out of hand. It's a good reminder that eating disorders can come on gradually, and that they can also be healed. She told the press, "I've never really talked about this, but I would go days without eating. I knew I had a problem... it was a gradual process, but I changed myself."
4 Snooki
Snooki, who goes by her real name Nicole Polizzi these days, admits that high school was a challenging time for her, and so was starring on Jersey Shore and listening to mean comments about her weight. She had pretty severe anorexia in high school.
3 Jamie-Lynn Sigler
The Sopranos star is a huge advocate of helping people who suffer from eating disorders, because she herself suffered from one. She has said, "My reality was so warped... I knew I had a problem and wanted to get better, but I was not able to let go of my habit."
2 Demi Lovato
The singer has been public about her struggles with depression, self harm, and eating disorders. She has become a mental health crusader and wants to inform the public about mental health issues as much as she possibly can. She's got a pretty amazing perspective on the issue: “Having an eating disorder doesn’t show ‘strength.’ Strength is when are able to overcome your demons after being sick and tired for so long."
1 Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has been vocal about the fact that she has suffered from eating disorders as well as depression, which happened as recently as 2013. She says her bulimia and anorexia started at the age of 15: " "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."
sources: crushable.com, gurl.com abcnews.go.com, people.com
