In an interview with The Real on November 15, Tami Roman spoke about her struggle with body dysmorphic disorder, which she’s dealt with since age 13.
In a preview clip of the upcoming episode posted to YouTube, the former Basketball Wives LA star said, “A lot of people don’t know it’s either hereditary or genetic or comes from a negative experience, where your self-image has been annihilated.”
“And for me, when I was 13 years old, I wanted to be a model. You know we’re from New York. I was tall; I was 5’9, I was thin. And I went to this agency and walked in, and that lady ripped me to shreds. I thought I was perfect. 5’9, less than 120 pounds. Assuredly, they’re going to sign me. And she literally stood me in front of a mirror and said, you’ve got back folds, you’ve got fat over your knees, you need to do something with your chin, your breasts are sagging. And I went home that night, and from that moment, every time I looked at myself in the mirror, I could find something wrong with myself.”
The TV star shared that she got obsessed with losing weight after a failed modeling career and even reported using quick outlets to achieve weight loss, despite her already being thin.
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“I started abusing laxatives, I started not eating, I started throwing up, I started doing everything that I could think of to do to be as skinny as I could possibly be, being obsessive about my weight loss,” Roman continued. “People don’t realize; that’s why I got my mouth wired in 1993. To be skinny when I was already skinny.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, body dysmorphic disorder is the “preoccupation with one or more perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance that are not observable or appear slight to others.”
In the video, Loni Love added that body dysmorphia cases are rising with increased social media usage.
Roman also said that her diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes has also affected her lifestyle.
“People don’t understand what it is to be a person with this disorder, particularly dealing with the weight issues, because they leave negative comments. Or what they feel are negative comments, but for me, my mind has such a warped sense of perception, it’s a compliment. Tami, you look too frail, Tami, you look like a bobblehead, Tami, you look skinny. In my mind, that goes, well, I’m on the right track, I’m getting skinny. And then I don’t know when to stop,” she said.
Roman’s full interview was released on November 22.
