Shailene Woodley is opening up about the health scare she experienced while filming the Divergent movies.
The 32-year-old actress said that she began losing her hearing, had trouble eating, and couldn’t walk for long periods of time.
While she previously has noted in interviews that she went through a “very scary physical situation” in her early 20s, this is the most she’s ever revealed about it.
Keep reading to find out more…
“I haven’t spoken about what exactly it was because that feels like a personal thing that I don’t need to disclose,” Shailene said on the She MD podcast. “I was in a position in my early 20s, it got to the point where I was losing my hearing, I couldn’t walk for long periods of time without having to lay down for hours and hours and sleep. Everything I ate hurt my stomach.”
Shailene continued, “It was this conflation of issues and diagnoses and different doctors telling me different things. I come from a very holistic background and studied herbalism so I was really keen on, ‘Alright I’m gonna work with real MDs and I’m gonna work with independent healers.’ And I was just trying to search for some sense of comfort in my own skin. It was a long journey.”
It took the past decade for Shailene to fully heal.
“Throughout that decade a lot of other things came from feeling so much discomfort physically, which was ‘My gosh, if everything I’m eating hurts my stomach, I’m now suddenly afraid of food.’ And then going into the mental f–kery that can happen with that—of body dysmorphia and confusion about identity and feeling safe in my own capsule,” she said about the effect on her mental health.
Thankfully, she’s doing well now!
“My hormones are so balanced,” she said. “Everything is pumping the way that it should. I am very healthy. I’m so happy to be able to say that.”
Shailene will soon be taking a big step in her career.
