Girls star opens up about eating disorder: 'I nearly died'

Zosia Mamet has opened up about her battle with an eating disorder. Photo/Getty

Actress Zosia Mamet has gone public with her eating disorder troubles, confessing she "nearly died" during her youth after keeping her weight struggles under wraps for years.

The Girls star, daughter of playwright David Mamet, opens up about her food hell in the September issue of America's Glamour magazine, in which she has a monthly advice column.

"Do you have a secret? Is your secret something that could kill you, a silent gnawing feeling that's slowly melting you away, little by little, something deadly that nobody else can see? Mine is. And it is this: I've struggled with an eating disorder since I was a child.

"This struggle has been mostly a private one, a war nobody knew was raging inside me. I tried to fight it alone for a long time. And I nearly died," Mamet writes.

Mamet said her battle began when she was just a child after taking a nasty comment to heart.

"I was told I was fat for the first time when I was eight. I'm not fat; I've never been fat. But ever since then, there has been a monster in my brain that tells me I am - that convinces me my clothes don't fit or that I've eaten too much.

"At times it has forced me to starve myself, to run extra miles, to abuse my body."

The actress, now 26, credits her famous father for forcing her to get help during her late teens, an intervention which saved her life.

"My dad eventually got me into treatment. He came home one night from a party, took me by the shoulders, and said, 'You're not allowed to die.' It was the first time I realised this wasn't all about me. I didn't care if I died, but my family did. That's the thing about these kinds of disorders: They're consuming; they make you egocentric; they're all you can see.

"During treatment I discovered that my disorder has never really been about weight or food - that's just the way the monster manifests itself. Really these diseases are about control: control of your life and of your body."

Her Girls co-star, and the creator of the show Lena Dunham, heaped praise on Mamet for the honest piece.

Proud of my colleague @ZosiaRMamet, beautiful in body and soul, for opening up about her eating disorder struggle. http://t.co/nMynE73Wej

Mamet is the latest celebrity to share her eating disorder story - singers Demi Lovato and Kesha have been open about their body issues in recent months, after each enduring stints in rehab, in a bid to help others struggling with similar problems.

* Read Mamet's full column here.

- WENN