Troian Bellisario on Opening Up About Her Anorexia: "It Was Important for Me to Tell the Truth"

Sasha Pieterse, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario and Shay Mitchell - The Talk (21 June 2016)

Troian Bellisario has publicly discussed her battle with eating disorders several times, first in a 2014 interview with Seventeen and more recently in a November voting PSA.

Ihad spoken out to Seventeen magazine because they asked me, What was your life like when you were 17? And I thought to myself, Well, you could either lie or you could tell them the truth," Bellisario, 31, told PEOPLE whilehosting fansatthebrandnewDisneySprings OrlandoOriginsshop.

It was really important for me to tell the truth because there are so many young women and men who watch Pretty Little Liars, she continues.I didnt want to exclude them from my story, which I think is a really positive story because I sought treatment, because I was supported by my friends and family, and I was able to get back to a healthy place.

The actress feels being honest is even more important these days, when young women and girls are flooded with images of perfect bodies on social media.

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My message would be especially with social media dont believe what you see at all, she says. There are lots of apps you can get on your phone that can change the way your face looks and the way your body looks. Were setting the bar at a very different place for what people think is a regular photo.

Its sort of curated in a way that could create a false ideal for a womans body or a mans body, she continues. I think its really dangerous territory.

Bellisario says she hopes people will learn to not let the images affect how they see themselves.

Treat them as you would if you looked at a magazine stand. You dont know which one of these has been Photoshopped, you dont know which one of these has been altered, she says. Its important to look at them as beautiful images, but as not necessarily entirely accurate all the time.

Source: http://people.com/bodies/troian-bellisario-why-she-revealed-struggle-with-anorexia/