‘Pretty Little Liars’ Star Troian Bellisario On Why She Chose To Speak Out About Her Battle With Anorexia

“Pretty Little Liars” star Troian Bellisario has been vocal about her past struggles with anorexia. While she is open about it now, the actress said she did not exactly mean to be a spokesperson for people who suffer from the same illness.

In an interview with The Cut, Bellisario said: “I was doing an interview with Seventeen a few years ago, and they asked me what my life was like when I was 17, and I thought very clearly to myself, ‘Well, I can either lie about this or I could tell people the truth.’”

The actress added: “That was very important because the fans of my show are young women, so I knew that there would be a number of them who would definitely be dealing with disordered eating, whether in fact it was a mental illness or eating disorder. So I thought it was important that I speak out about my recovery process and seeking treatment.”

Bellisario also said that she decided to do a PSA because she wants to let people know how important it is that mental illnesses get treated.

The actress recently took to Instagram to share the importance of early detection and treatment of mental illnesses.

“Gone were the days where I was just a happy carefree kid who was running around and suddenly I felt this inability to interact with people and to nourish myself,” Bellisario said of the beginning of her illness.

The actress first talked about her struggle with anorexia in an interview with Seventeen. She also opened up about harming herself while she was in junior high school.

“I would withhold food or withhold going out with my friends, based on how well I did that day in school,” Bellisario said. “Being a teenager is chaotic because you’re kind of coming into your own. I didn’t know what was right and what was wrong, so I think I created this bizarre system of checks and balances to create order in my world. But it really backfired.”