Around
the time I was going through my most intense phase of disordered eating and
body image issues, Tracy Gold, the young actress from the situation comedy, “Growing Pains,” was also suffering.
Tracey, vulnerable about her public image and body aesthetics,
has shared the impact of the pressure to perform. Anorexia was her attempt at a
release valve from that pressure.
Filming her show further contribute to her struggle:
“One episode featured her
television father offering her food and then laughing about her weight, which
at the time was 135 pounds on her 5 foot, 3 inch frame. After the taping of the
episode, Gold called her producers to beg them not to air the show. However,
they ignored her plea and aired the show despite her protests. She found a
doctor who put her on a diet. But she couldn’t stop losing the weight, so her
producers demanded that she take a break from the show to get the help she
needed.”
My Story |
Tracey Gold (thetraceygold.com)
Many of us have been compelled to engage in disorder, all based
upon one comment. It could be vicious; it could be well-meaning. It
could be a joke may at our expense, perceived by the joke teller as “harmless.”
It could be punishing criticism and unrealistic expectation.
Whatever the case may be, that one comment can send us
spiraling into disorder.
And this famous person, Tracey God, is not immune to that vulnerable
reality.
If you, like Gold, are responding like this, you are not alone.
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