Source: Jerod Harris / Getty
While filling in as a guest host on The Real, Tami Roman will be revealing that she’s diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 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.”
The former Basketball Wives star said she had been dealing with the disorder since she was 13-years-old. She revealed that it was an experience at a modeling agency that led to the disorder showing itself.
“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,” she shared. “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.”
After that detrimental experience, Roman became preoccupied with the idea of getting skinny so she could pursue a modeling career.
“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,” she continued. “People don’t realize, that’s why I got my mouth wired in 1993. To be skinny when I was already skinny.”
Fast forward to today and Roman is now managing having body dysmorphic disorder along with diabetes. The mother-of-two also discussed how nasty comments about her weight on social media reinforce the faulty beliefs that stem from having body dysmorphic disorder.
“And so now today at 50 years old, I’ve been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and so my weight fluctuates with that, and you couple that with the disorder and it’s a hard thing to manage,” Roman said. “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.“
Roman will be filling in as guest host on Nov. 22.
