When reality star Tami Roman first stepped into the public eye, it was as a young adult appearing on “The Real World”. She drew attention for being open and honest about her struggles. In one particular episode, she shed light on body image issues after making the decision to wire her mouth shut in order to lose weight. However, it wasn’t until years later that she would finally be able to put a cause to her body image issues.
“Body dysmorphia is something I was diagnosed with later on in life. I didn’t know that I had a disorder. What I knew was that I abused laxatives, I starved myself, I was throwing up food,” she says.
Roman, whose recent weight loss prompted concern from fans on social media, got candid in a recent “The Breakfast Club” interview about her struggles.
“Every day is a challenge. If I see my clavicle and I see bones that’s great to me but to you, you’d be like, ‘Tami, you need to eat something’. I have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). I didn’t realize that I had it for most of my life until I was diagnosed with it in 2008,” Roman shares.
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Although Roman wasn’t officially diagnosed until 2008, she’s been dealing with the mental disorder since she was 13.
At times the reality star may feel like she has to stop eating, other times she may feel like she’s very hungry and needs to eat.
“What happens with that is the way I look at myself and the way people see me are two different things. I think about myself as My 600-Lb. Life. No matter how I look to people, when I look at myself, I can always pick something apart. I always feel like I’m overweight,” Roman adds.
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For Roman, her desire to lose weight is different than the average woman. “This is different because there can literally be nothing wrong, but I will find something. With the average woman, it’s like ‘well i think I wanna lose a few pounds’, but if they don’t, they’re OK. But with me, it’s like no, ‘I’ve got to lose the pounds because I see this fold on my wrist right here,’” she explains.
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Even though Roman’s recent weight loss raised concern, causing her to deal with negative comments, the 52-year-old took it as a compliment.
“Here’s the thing. When I feel I look good, people will comment and say, ‘you’re too skinny,’ ‘you look like a bobble head,’ ‘she needs to gain some weight.’ All of that in my mind is a compliment. They’re viewing it as, ‘girl get your life together, I’m seeing bones,’ and I’m like, ‘Really? Oh my god, I look like a crackhead? Thank you,’” Roman shares.
Roman shares that for many people living with BDD, “…it’s either hereditary or genetic or comes from
