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Kerry Washington is sharing a deeply personal chapter of her life, opening up about her past struggle with an eating disorder and the moment she realized she needed help.
Speaking on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in an episode released on March 18, the 49-year-old actress reflected on how serious her situation had become before she decided to seek treatment. "I recognized it because I knew that I was in a real mental health crisis," she said. "Like, the thing that actually got me to get help with my eating disorder wasn't the food itself, wasn't the behavior with the food—it was the suicidal ideation."
She went on to explain how her relationship with food and exercise had become a way to cope with deeper pain. "I was like, 'I'm using food and exercise as a tool to not be here. I'm trying to escape life and I need to figure out how to be in life,'" she said. "Because I was terrified that I was being so mean to myself, right? That I was in so much pain that it was like inflicting more pain was the only way out of my pain."
Washington shared that her struggles reached their lowest point during her college years, when her daily life revolved entirely around food and body image. "It was the first thing that got me on my knees ever," she recalled. "The first time I ever prayed was to get out of this insanity," adding that at the time, "my entire life revolved around what I was eating or not eating, how many calories I was burning."
Seeking help marked a turning point. She began attending both individual and group therapy, and also worked with a nutritionist, allowing her to start unpacking her relationship with food and her mental health more broadly.
Looking back, Washington stressed the importance of listening to oneself and recognizing when something isn't right, encouraging people to take their concerns seriously and seek help rather than allowing others to dismiss what they are going through.
Now, Washington is using her experience to support others. She works closely with Equip, a platform focused on helping people recover from eating disorders, and says being part of that work has been meaningful. "I'm very proud of that work," she shared.
