Monica Seles opens up about her long running battle with binge eating

FORMER tennis star Monica Seles has opened up about an eating disorder she said she kept hidden for years.

In an interview with Good Morning America Seles opened up about her long running battle with the disorder, saying she decided to speak out so that other sufferers know they are not alone.

“I look at my life and how many years I wasted by being shamed about it, hiding it from my family and friends and doing my binges in private … now there’s help out there,” she said.

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Silence broken ... Monica Seles has opened up about her battle with a binge eating disorder. Picture: AP/Evan Agostini Source: Supplied

The Better Health Channel said people with a binge eating disorder will regularly (at least once a week) eat large quantities of food rapidly in a short period of time and feel out of control and unable to stop themselves from eating. This is often linked with high levels of distress.

People with binge eating disorder will not try to make up for the eating with compensatory behaviours such as vomiting or excessive exercise. This means that people with binge eating disorder are often overweight or can be obese.

It was estimated that in 2012, over 260,000 Australian women and 160,000 men had a binge eating disorder, making it the most common eating disorder.

Seles has appeared in a new public service announcement about the disorder in conjunction with the Binge Eating Disorder Association, the National Eating Disorders Association and Shire Pharmaceuticals.

Speaking up ... Seles wants others to seek help and not suffer in silence. Picture: Supplied Source: AFP

“My binge-eating episodes will usually happen in the evenings when I would be back by myself after a long day at the tennis courts and would just eat large quantities of food,” she said.

Seles is a paid spokeswoman for Shire Pharmaceuticals, the drug company that make Vyvanse — the first drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of the disorder.

“My eating was just uncontrollable. Once the binge was over I felt so upset with myself.”

Seles said foods that triggered her binge eating episodes were pretzels and potato chips which she would eat alone.

The 41-year-old told PEOPLE she developed the disorder as an adult while dealing with the pressures of being an athlete and her dad’s battle with prostate cancer, as well as trying to recover from being stabbed on the court in 1993.

She said she felt ashamed that as a professional tennis player she was in control of herself on the court but couldn’t control herself when it came to binge eating.

Triggers ... Seles said potato chips and pretzels were trigger food for her. Picture: Supplied Source: News Limited

The turning point in her life came when she was asked to be a bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding, she said.

“I wanted to be glamorous. I had my hair done, everything. And my friend had one of the most beautiful weddings. And I just wanted to feel like, you know, a beautiful girl and all that stuff,” she said.

“And here I had to go in for countless different fittings because my weight would be fluctuating because of my binge eating. So for me that came a point where I said, ‘There’s more to life than this. And I — and I need to get help.’”

Seles said she decided to talk to her doctor and come up with a plan that worked for her.

And her message for others is clear.

“If you feel you’re experiencing some of the symptoms of binge eating sort of go out there, talk to your health care provider. There’s help out there. You don’t have to suffer in silence like I did for so many years.”

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