In a candid chat, Shailene Woodley revealed that in her twenties, she struggled with a serious medical condition that doctors couldn’t diagnose.
The 32-year-old Big Little Lies actress revealed that while filming the Divergent franchise that was released between 2014 and 2016, she suffered from a painful illness.
The actress revealed that not only is she experiencing hearing loss, but several other symptoms include hypothyroidism, fainting, food sensitivities, PTSD, and trauma response.
“I haven’t talked about what it really is, because it feels like something personal that I don’t need to reveal,” the actress said.
‘But the point is, I’m in my early 20s. It got to the point where I lost my hearing. I can’t walk more than five minutes at a time without having to lay down for hours and hours and hours and sleep. Everything I eat hurts my stomach.’
‘It’s a conflation of problems and diagnoses and different doctors told me it’s different,’ he told Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi and influencer Mary Alice Haney on the She MD podcast.
When filming the first Divergent movie, Shailene would have been 22 and when the franchise ended with the third movie, she would have been 26.
The actress revealed that it took almost a decade to get well again, after struggling with traditional medical diagnoses.
‘I come from a holistic background and studied herbalism, so I was like, “Okay, I’m going to work with a real MD and I’m going to work with an independent doctor.” And I’m just trying to find comfort in my own skin. It’s a long journey. About ten years of rest and healing and getting well.’
He then revealed that his illness caused other problems: ‘During that decade, a lot of other things happened from physical discomfort, which is “Oh my God, if everything I eat hurts my stomach, I’m now afraid. food”.’
‘And then the mental entry that can happen – body dysmorphia and confusion about identity and feeling safe in my own capsule. In my own skin and what it means,” he said, referring to the psychological effects of the disease.
‘It was a journey that ended up psychologically resolving itself and I got it, I’m very healthy – I’m very happy to be able to say that.’
During the discussion, he revealed that his physical illness caused him to become more ‘introspective’ and to learn more about how mental trauma affects his body.
‘And also, it forces me to look deeply and be introspective. It is, I guess, the path for me, in addition to physical healing, admitting the mental side of the healing process, for me, which involves looking at real traumas and real PTSD I have experienced at various times in my life, without wanting to. go into detail about what they are. They definitely take a toll on me.
She said she ‘passed out’ every time she got her period during the ordeal. ‘And, it was a confusing process for me, “Well, what am I doing wrong? Why do I pass out every month on my period? Why am I hypothyroid? Why am I all this?”‘
She said she was given conflicting advice about her reproductive organs and was told she had a tilted uterus, endometriosis, and a heart-shaped uterus. After losing faith in doctors, he decided to learn about his health.
‘Therefore, I can also take this into my own hands and devote myself to teaching myself about many subjects and approach it from an internal holistic place.
He later revealed: ‘And now, I mean, I’m off my thyroid medication. I am not on any medication. My hormones are balanced. Everything is pumping in the way it should.
In 2020, the actress was in her twenties. He told The New York Times that health problems forced him to turn down the role.
“I haven’t said much about it publicly, and I will one day, but I was very sick in my 20s. While I was doing Divergent and working hard, I was also struggling with a very scary physical condition.
‘Because of that, I don’t say many opportunities because I need to be better, and the projects are done for my dear friends.’
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