Madison Beer.Photo: Ryan Emberley/amfAR/Getty
The “Dangerous” singer-songwriter recently spoke toTodayand detailed the “public scrutiny, bullying and harassment” she’s experienced since her quick rise to fame.
The 24-year-old admitted that in the past few months, she’s been “struggling” with body dysmorphia because she had “so many people impact me so negatively about my body when I was younger.”
Body dysmorphia is described as a mental health disorder in which a personcan’t stop thinking about a perceived defect or flawin their appearance, according to the Mayo Clinic. The disorder can cause anxiety and depression, making it difficult to function in social situations and daily life.
Madison Beer.Matthew Priestley
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Beer revealed that in recent weeks, she was “restricting herself a lot” when it came to food.
“I wasn’t eating as much as I should be,” she admitted, noting that as she struggled with restrictive eating she read a comment on social media that said, “Someone needs to tell her to stop eating and put the fork down.”
“I’m getting to a place where I’m feeling more confident, but it does suck and it is really hurtful when people have no idea what you’re going through behind closed doors,” Beer added.
While dealing with scrutiny on social media, the musician urged her younger fans to limit their screen time because “life is very short.”
“I don’t think that as a society we’re ever going to advance to a better place if we’re all so quick to yell and scream and cancel each other and pull each other down,” she told the outlet.
Madison Beer.Courtesy Harper Collins
Beer detailed more effects of social media on her life and her mental health in her new memoirThe Half of It.
Ahead of the memoir’s April 25 release, the “Selfish” singer spoke to PEOPLE about its contents, including the moment a private nude video of herself at 15 — one sent in confidence to a romantic partner — was leaked online and spread profusely on social media. She said she felt victimized at the time, as many people shamed her for sending the video in the first place.
“I wasn’t really protected at all,” she told PEOPLE. “No one cared to even jump in and be like, ‘This is a child, and we shouldn’t be sharing this video.'”
“There were many times — just like the night my nudes were leaked — that I felt so backed into a corner I thought the only way out was to end my life,” she writes in her book.
“I definitely feel like a lot of the book is about reclaiming the narrative,” Beer told PEOPLE. “I’ve put on myself a bit of a responsibility to advocate and speak on these things and make people aware that their words do hurt, linger and impact you.”
source: people.com
