Tami Roman Reveals She Suffers From Body Dysmorphia: ‘I Started Abusing Laxatives, Not Eating & Throwing Up!’

“Basketball Wives” star, Tami Roman, opened up about her struggle with body image during a Monday appearance on “The Real.” In an episode set to air on November 22, Tami reveals that she suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder. 

The reality star shared that an early pursuit of a modeling career led to the the development of the disorder.

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Tami explained—-“I suffer from body dysmorphic disorder. And I’ve been dealing with it since I was 13 years old. And so, 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. 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. And I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t know how to deal with it, I just knew well, I’ve got to get skinnier, I’ve got to make myself smaller. I want to be a model.”

“The Real World: Los Angeles” personality continued—“And so, 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. People don’t realize, that’s why I got my mouth wired in 1993. To be skinny when I was already skinny. 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. 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.” 

Tami explained that negative comments can often feel like compliments due to a “warped sense of perception.” 

Tami added—“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.”

The Anxiety & Depression Association of America describes the disorder as one that compels an affected person to think about real or perceived flaws for hours each day. They have trouble controlling negative thoughts and those thoughts can cause severe emotional distress and interfere with everyday life.

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