LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tallulah Willis, earlier this year, revealed she is “trying every day” while recovering from an eating disorder. The 29-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, who disclosed that she struggled with anorexia, appeared on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' on Wednesday, November 8, and shed light on why she decided to share the experience.
“I felt like the things that had occurred in more recent years, I very visibly was struggling with an eating disorder and because of the age of social media and that was very present and there was actually a tremendous amount of concern for me that I got on my Instagram, and as I’m early in recovery in that, it’s interesting to talk about it because I don’t know if I had my full footing, I’m just trying every day,” she told Drew Barrymore.
“I wanted to talk about that because I felt like it was really important to share that it was very scary, that it was really hard,” Tallulah added. according to People.
Tallulah Willis said she suffered from eating disorder since the last four years
The actress opened up about her eating disorder in May and having body dysmorphia in a personal essay for Vogue, in which she wrote, "For the last four years, I have suffered from anorexia nervosa."
She also spoke about depression and being diagnosed with ADHD and borderline personality disorder.
Tallulah Willis was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 25
Tallulah said she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when she was 25 and had started medication to treat it. However she said the medication also came with an “appetite-suppressant side effect,” which she had welcomed at first.
“There’s an unhealthy deliciousness at the beginning of losing weight rapidly,” she wrote at the time. “People are like, ‘Oh wow!’ And then quickly it turns to, ‘Are you okay?’ My friends and family were terrified, and I dismissed it," she added.
She said by the spring of last year she couldn't walk around her Los Angeles neighborhood because she “was afraid of not having a place to sit down and catch my breath.”
When did Tallulah Willis learn about her borderline personality disorder?
The actress then disclosed in June that following her relationship with her then-boyfriend ended in June of the same year, her family "stepped in" and sent her to Driftwood Recovery, a rehabilitation center in Texas, where she learned she also had borderline personality disorder.
She said that after leaving the facility, she had a newfound focus on recovery and rebuilding her relationship with her family and her father in particular.
Tallulah's father Bruce, 68, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in February and Tallulah noted the importance of savoring time with her father in her essay.
“Recovery is probably lifelong, but I now have the tools to be present in all facets of my life, and especially in my relationship with my dad,” she said.
“In the past I was so afraid of being destroyed by sadness, but finally I feel that I can show up and be relied upon. I can savor that time, hold my dad’s hand, and feel that it’s wonderful,” Tallulah continued in the essay.
“That whole thing about loving yourself before you can love somebody else — it’s real," she concluded.