Sophie Turner's live-in therapist helped her deal with eating disorder
Sophie Turner has revealed that her therapist moved in with her during the height of her eating disorder.
The Game of Thrones actress, 26, admitted that growing up in the public eye impacted her mental health, and that social media had a negative effect on her body image.
Turner confessed that she wishes she had never got involved with social media in the first place, and that her live-in therapist helped her deal with both her relationship with food and with Instagram.
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In a candid interview with Elle magazine, she said: "For a long time, I was quite sick with an eating disorder and I had a companion. I don’t know if you know what a companion is? It’s a live-in therapist, who would ensure I wasn’t doing anything unhealthy with my eating habits.
"One night, I was playing over and over in my mind a comment I'd seen on Instagram, I was like, 'I'm so fat, I'm so undesirable,' and spinning out. She said to me, 'You know, no one actually cares. I know you think this, but nobody else is thinking it. You’re not that important.'"
This comment completely changed her outlook. "That was the best thing anyone could have told me," Turner confessed.
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Turner grew up in Warwickshire and landed the role of Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones when she was just 16, thrusting her immediately into the spotlight.
She started dating singer Joe Jonas in 2016 and they married in Las Vegas three years later.
The couple already have a two-year-old daughter Willa and on the red carpet at the Met Gala this week, they revealed they are expecting their second child together.
Given her own experiences, Turner is fiercely protective of her daughter and their family life, saying she and Jonas only do a red carpet together if it works for their careers, not to be a 'celebrity couple'.
She also revealed that deleting Instagram from her phone had been a huge turning point for her.
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"I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I wish I’d never got myself involved with it in the first place,’ she told Elle. "I look at the comments on Instagram and think, Oh, f*ck. Everyone thinks this about me. It would completely consume me."
She’s a staunch believer in therapy and has regular sessions, saying they have given her the tools to do what is right for her.
"I still have to do it every week. Occasionally, I go on a retreat to check myself, and I still have days when I feel depressed or anxious. It’s manageable now – I have the tools. I know what’s good for me and what’s not good for me. I know what I have to do to get myself in a good head space. It’s not debilitating – I know how to get myself out of it."
