Tallulah Willis is opening up about her health and life with her father, Bruce Willis.
In a moving essay she wrote for Vogue, the actress, 29, revealed that she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder last June.
The National Institute of Mental Health says that the mental illness, “severely impacts a person’s ability to manage their emotions” and can, “affect how a person feels about themselves, and negatively impact their relationship with others.”
Willis, who said she was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 15, said that the BPD diagnosis came while she was at Driftwood Recovery, a rehabilitation center in Texas.
In her essay, Willis, who is the daughter of actor Bruce Willis and actress Demi Moore, said she had experienced depression since she was a pre-teen, triggered by reading comments online that criticized her looks.
“I told no one. I just lived with the silent certainty of my own ugliness,” Tallulah confesses.
The actress said it wasn’t until she was 20 when she sought psychiatric treatment and therapy. Five years later, she was admitted to a residential treatment facility in Malibu for depression.
“For the first time, I grieved the 15-year-old misfit me, the ugly duckling,” said Willis, who also added she has suffered from anorexia nervosa.
Since she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, the actress said, “recovery is probably lifelong, but I now have the tools to be present in all facets of my life, and especially in my relationship with my dad.”
While struggling, Tallulah said she “was too sick to handle” her father’s news about his declining health. In 2022, Bruce Willis was diagnosed with the degenerative brain condition aphasia. In February, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.
These days, Tallulah said she feels that she is able to bring her dad “an energy that is bright and sunny, no matter where I’ve been.”
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