Shailene Woodley Reveals Health Problems While Filming Divergent
Big Little Lies and Divergent actress Shailene Woodley has revealed that she suffered from some serious health problems in her early 20s. During an interview on the SHE MD podcast, the actress explained that her health issues had a serious impact on both her and professional life — especially while filming The Divergent this series.
Falling Apart During the Divergent Series
Woodley said that while she was still filming the Divergent movies from 2014–16, her health started to get worse during the podcast. Besides starring as Beatrice Prior in the Divergent series, Woodley was secretly battling a string of undiagnosed health woes.
She said the problems were so dire that she could only walk for five minutes before having to stop. ” I was gone to the time where I lost my hearing, and could not walk in excess of five minutes, and everything hurt so terrible that I ate, she said.
The Pain of an Undiagnosed Condition
Woodley, in turn, tried every possible way to heal her body from regular medical doctors to independent healers but was unable to get a definite answer. The range of issues made her case “a conflation of issues,” and several doctors she visited around that time refrained from giving her a diagnosis.
Woodley explained: “I come from a very holistic background and have studied herbalism, and so I was really excited about working with actual MDs as well as independent healers. Her relief took almost a decade and was a journey of endless nights.
It Took a Toll on Her Mental Health
In addition to her physical struggles, Woodley battled emotional issues as well. A fear of food developed, as each mouthful she tried to swallow made her cry out in pain. This caused body dysmorphia and identity confusion within her own being.
“Even if you think physical recovery is going well, the mental part of it sometimes has months to catch up,” she continued, “I do remember just after my illness and suddenly thinking, If everything I’m eating hurts my stomach…I’m suddenly afraid of food. And then getting into some of the mental anguish that can come with it — body dysmorphia, identity confusion and running on my skin.
A Journey to Recovery
Woodley said she came about her health “naturally,” but after years of struggling with it, finally her health “restored itself. Now she is happy to announce that she is free from her disease and not having any medicine. “I am very healthy. I am off thyroid medication, I am off all other medications and my hormones are in balance,’ she said.
Woodley also talked about the need to soothe her nerves, telling how for many years she was in a state of “fight or flight” wireless. “Once I focused on downregulating my nervous system, really honing in on that practice is when everything started to balance out for me physically,” she said.
In conclusion: a message of hope and healing.
All that shit made her sick as hell… — both physically and mentally. When discussing her healing process with me, her story unfolded a multi-faceted journey of medical & holistic methods but laid emphasis on the necessity for calming down our nervous system for achieving balance in our lives. These days, she’s healthy and happy and telling her story to inspire others dealing with the same problem.