Penn Badgley opens up about body dysmorphia during difficult time in early teens

Penn Badgley has opened up about his body image struggles as a teenager.

As a household name thanks to his work in projects such as Easy A, Gossip Girl and Netflix’s You, Badgley has been seen by people across the world.

While he might have droves of fans who have been fancying him for years, that doesn’t mean that he was happy within his own skin at that time.

Sadly, the actor says he suffered with body dysmorphia as a teen.

Penn Badgley talked about his body image (Barry King/WireImage)

Badgley was talking to The Guardian to promote You when he said that he struggled with his body image, but didn’t receive a diagnosis.

“I know that I hated my body and simply wanted a different one,” Badgley said.

According to Mind, the mental health charity, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is ‘an anxiety disorder related to body image [...] closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)'.

The symptoms of this which would warrant a diagnosis include: experiencing obsessive worries about one or more perceived flaws in your physical appearance, which others cannot see; if you develop compulsive and repetitive behaviours and routines, such as excessive use of mirrors or picking your skin, or; you begin to experience significant disruption to your daily life as a result of these worries and behaviours.

Badgley shared that for him, he thinks it began with his parents' divorce, as this knocked his self-esteem.

Whilst facing these feelings, the actor shared that he began to overindulge in food.

Then, when he began acting at 12, he felt the pressure on his self-image even more - and becoming an actor added to the pressure he felt.

The actor opened up on his struggles (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

“There was just a period where, coming out of depression and isolation, I was jumping willfully into, but also being thrust into, this world where the more conventionally beautiful I seemed, the more successful I might be, the more value I might have,” he said.

“There’s no way to get past the superficiality of this work, and if you recognize that, you can’t help but recognize the superficiality of our culture, because of the way it rewards this work.”

Years later and a slew of fantastic roles under his belt, Badgley managed to overcome the scrutiny over his appearance.

The married father-of-two prays and meditates daily.

“That is what allowed me to persevere through the disillusionment, all the things I’d been grappling with, and then come back to it all, but with hopefully some kind of inner transformation,” he said.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article and would like to speak with someone in confidence, call the BEAT Eating Disorders helpline on 0808 801 0677. Helplines are open 3pm-8pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can try the one-to-one webchat.

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