- Sana Saeed revealed she battled bulimia from a young age
- She experienced food-related anxiety impacting her daily life
- Sana has fully recovered and encourages others to seek help
Sana Saeed has opened up about one of the most challenging chapters of her life. The actress, who rose to fame for her roles in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Student of the Year, revealed that she battled the eating disorder, bulimia, from a young age.
Sana recalled feeling confused by her condition and believing that "something was wrong" with her.
In a video shared on Instagram, Sana spoke about the food-related anxiety she dealt with as a child and how it impacted her everyday life. The actress gave credit to the book The Bulimia Help Method for supporting her through the process.
"I cannot constantly want to hide and eat or be worried that she [someone] will enter my room and think that I am overeating. I remember when I started reading the book, I was like… because you are so scared, you finally know what the problem is and you don't want to face it. You have lived with it for so many years; you think something is absolutely wrong with you," the actress said.
Sana admitted that accepting the diagnosis was the hardest part of it all.
“I remember telling myself, ‘Okay, it's some sort of an eating disorder. But it's not this,' because it was so difficult for me to admit to myself that I had bulimia. I never heard about it growing up. I wish I'd heard about it, so I would have gone straight to the problem," Sana added.
In the caption, Sana mentioned she has now fully recovered.
She wrote, "I didn't know I had an eating disorder for years. Not because I wasn't suffering, but because I had never heard the words. Growing up, nobody talked about it. There was no language for what I was going through, so I carried it silently and alone for a long time. When I finally read about bulimia, I understood for the first time what was happening to me. And even then, the shame of admitting it, even just to myself, took years to move through."
The actress said she chose to share her story in case someone else is dealing with something they can't put a name to yet, to let them know it does have a name and that they're "not alone."
Closing the note on a hopeful note, she added, "I am fully recovered and I have never felt more at home in my body or my life. If you are struggling, please reach out to someone you trust or look for eating disorder support in your region. You deserve real help from someone qualified to give it."
Bulimia nervosa is a serious eating disorder characterised by a repetitive cycle of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviours, such as self-induced vomiting, to prevent weight gain.
People struggling with bulimia often feel a severe loss of control over their food intake during a binge, which subsequently triggers overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame and anxiety.
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