Shailene Woodley gives further insights into her experiences as she struggled with various health issues in her early 20s.
The actress had an appearance in YOU MD Podcast, hosted by Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, in which she talked about her new series, Three womenand her battle with an unspecified illness at the height of her fame.
When asked if she would be willing to explain her earlier comments that she was “very ill” during the filming of the movie, Divergent She said she didn’t feel the need to share her diagnosis because it was a personal matter, but she would be willing to talk in more detail about what she went through.
“It got to the point where I lost my hearing. I couldn’t walk for more than five minutes at a time without having to lie down and sleep for hours,” she said on the podcast. “Everything I ate hurt my stomach. It was this accumulation of problems and diagnoses and different doctors telling me different things.”
The Big little lies Star explained that it was a long journey that spanned a decade, during which her health fluctuated between healing and suffering. She noted that the stomach pains she was experiencing eventually led to her developing a fear of food.
“Then I went into the mental shit that can come with body dysmorphia and confusion about identity and feeling safe in my own pod, in my own skin, and what that meant and what that was supposed to be,” Woodley continued. “It was a journey that ultimately resolved itself physically. And I’m very healthy. I’m so glad to say that. And it also forced me to really look deep inside myself and get thoughtful.”
Looking back on her experiences now, she realizes that she not only had to heal physically, but also heal mentally from “real trauma and real post-traumatic stress disorder” that she had suffered at various times in her life and that took a toll both physically and emotionally.
Fate is a lousy traitor The actress was particularly confused because she remembered always eating healthy and being very athletic, so she couldn’t understand what she had done wrong to make her body react in this way. Separately, she also reported health problems with her “reproductive and female cycle” but was unable to get a clear diagnosis from a doctor.
“Every person I went to gave me conflicting information, and that sent me on my own journey of, ‘OK… I don’t feel safe with any of these people who are guiding me because I feel like they’re actually figuring it out along the way too,” she said. “And so I might as well take matters into my own hands and dedicate myself to educating myself on so many topics and approaching it from an inner holistic standpoint.'”
She no longer has to take any medication and her body is healthy again; everything is “pumping as it should”.
“I think what ultimately got me there, in addition to the physical aspects, was the realization that I was in a constant fight-or-flight state,” she said. “My nervous system was very compassionate and just operating very much out of fear and wondering where is the lion in the room?”
Woodley spoke about her health problems to The Hollywood Reporter in a 2021 cover story in which she revealed that she had to turn down some acting jobs at the time because she was physically unable to do them.
“It was pretty debilitating,” she said. “I definitely suffered more than I needed to because I wasn’t taking care of myself. The self-imposed pressure of not wanting to help or take care of myself led to even more physical unrest over the course of those years.”
Although she has now fully recovered from her health problems, she previously spoke to THR She said that she had overcome the crisis and felt almost normal again, but that it had left a lasting mark because of the way people perceived her.
“It’s interesting to go through something so physically dominant and at the same time have so many people paying attention to the decisions you make, the things you say, what you do, how you look,” said the Divergent Star noted, “It threw me off track for a while. You feel so incredibly isolated and alone. When no one sees that you have a broken arm or a broken leg, it’s really hard for people to empathize with the pain that you’re experiencing when it’s a silent, quiet, invisible pain.”
Three women premieres every Friday on Starz until the finale on November 15th.
