I still remember the horrible scene from 1993 when a man ran onto the court in Hamburg and stabbed tennis great Monica Seles, then just 19, in the back. Seles had amassed eight grand slam singles titles before she was attacked. She returned to the sport in 1995 but had trouble playing at the same superior level. Although she officially retired from professional tennis in 2008, Seles still does exhibition matches. Last year she got engaged to billionaire Tom Golisano, the 73 year-old founder of Paychex payroll processing.
Now Seles has returned to the spotlight to discuss her binge eating disorder. (Note: this is not the first time Seles has revealed this publicly, although outlets are reporting it like it is.) I thought that binge eating was like bulimia, but sufferers do not throw up, they just eat large quantities of food in one sitting and feel shame, guilt and a loss of control. Binge eating disorder was officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013. Seles also has a new partnership with pharmaceutical company Shire, which puts out the first drug approved to treat BED, an amphetamine called Vyvanse. (Vyvanse is also approved to treat ADHD.) Here’s more on her announcement, and you can see a video of her interview on Good Morning America’s site:
In an interview with “Good Morning America”’s Lara Spencer, Seles opened up about her experience in an effort to raise awareness about the disorder.
People with binge eating disorder (B.E.D.) frequently eat an unusually large amount of food but do not throw it up, according U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Women’s Health.
The binges may result in feelings of shame and embarrassment and may lead to obesity and other health problems. According to the Office of Women’s Health, as many as 4 million Americans suffer from the disorder, which tends to affect women more than men.
Seles is a paid spokesperson for Shire Pharmaceuticals, the drug company that make Vyvanse – the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of the disorder. Vyvanse is already approved for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Seles, 41, also appears in new public service campaign about the disorder, including a public service announcement that debuted on Tuesday.
“My binge-eating episodes will usually happen in the evenings when I would be back by myself after a long day at the tennis courts and would just eat large quantities of food,” she says in the spot that’s a partnership with Shire Pharmaceuticals, the National Eating Disorder Association and the Binge Eating Disorder Association. “My eating was just uncontrollable. Once the binge was over I felt so upset with myself.”
Seles told Spencer that she wants fellow binge eating disorder sufferers to know that they’re not alone.
“I look at my life and how many years I wasted by being shamed about it, hiding it from my family and friends and doing my binges in private … now there’s help out there,” she said, mentioning the website BingeEatingDisorder.com, which has information and resources about B.E.D.
Seles told Spencer that stressful situations led to her binges.
“My trigger foods were pretzels, potato chips,” she said. “And I would do them alone because I was so ashamed that, here, I was a tennis player who was so controlling on the tennis court. I could direct. I’m very dedicated. Yet, in this one area of binge eating I was out of control.”
This reminds me very much of when Paula Deen announced that she had diabetes – at the same time she revealed her partnership with Novo Nordisk to shill diabetes drugs. While I do think Seles is sincere about having BED, it doesn’t sit well with me that she’s discussing her binge eating disorder at the same time that she’s announcing that she’s a spokesperson. She’s advertising a prescription drug basically. I do wonder how this came about. Monica’s wiki page states that she’s spoken about her binge eating disorder in the past, so it’s probable that the pharmaceutical company approached her.
I think it’s hard for me to relate to BED as a disorder because I do overeat, especially after I exercise hard and especially at night as Seles explains. I won’t eat an entire big bag of pretzels or a while pizza or anything, but sometimes I have an extra bowl or three and feel like I’ve lost control when I’m snacking. Many people do this, but people with BED do it to the extent that it interferes with their lives and they feel shame about it. Good for Seles for talking about it, but I still question her motivation. Also, binge eating disorder can be a product of our society. It’s way too easy to get high calorie low-nutrient food and we’re bombarded with images of food p0rn constantly.
Photo credit: WENN.com and Getty Images
Binge eating is real and my heart goes out to anyone dealing with an eating disorder. However it doesn’t sit well with me that she’s also in bed with a pharmaceutical company as she’s talking about her disorder. It’s a little yucky.
Same here.
But if ToodySezHey below is correct, and she has been talking about this since the 1990s, then this doesn’t seem as bad to me. If she thinks that it could sincerely help people in her position, I don’t fault her for working with them.
I followed her in the later years after her stabbing and I feel things were never the same for her. Your body can heal but there are other things that take time and I pray for her and hope that she is still working on them.
Yeah….when I read the headline I was like “reveal? This was known back in the late 90s”
Sad to hear she is still struggling with BED.
That said, I wonder if she has had some work done. Her face looks…not quite like I remember it…kinda plasticky.
I changed the title because you’re right, “reveal” is misleading. I think she’s had botox or fillers, she does look a little plastic.
I don’t actually see a similarity with Paula Deen. As you said, she’s discussed it in the past, so it’s not new. Plus, I think the problem people had with Paula Deen was not that she was promoting a diabetes drug, but that her entire brand is based upon food diabetics shouldn’t be eating. And she made no attempt to change that after she was diagnosed.
Honestly, I feel any open. non-judgmental discussion about eating disorders that brings awareness and hope to others that they are not alone and there’s nothing to be ashamed of is a good thing.
Totally agree. Plus this isn’t the first time she’s talked about having B.E.D, you know?
She didn’t do the Big Reveal of her disease in conjunction with her drug endorsement deal the way Deen did.
I don’t find this to be like the Paula Deen situation at all.
I agree, I think it’s only similar on a very superficial level. Monica Seles has always been up front about BED and Paula Deen was the total opposite. Plus I don’t get the same bad vibe from Seles that I did from Deen (i.e I feel like Deen just came forward for the money aspect and not because she wanted to make people aware of diabetes and such.)
I think celebrity endorsements of pharmaceuticals (or any product, like weight loss programs and health/beauty products) are less greasy if the spokesperson has actually used the drug and can say it worked for him/her.
Agree with this. Is she using the drug herself?
Agreed. NASCAR driver Brian Vickers and his endorsement of Xarelto comes to mind. Mainly because I’ve had DVT and am also on the drug. I don’t see an issue with it if you are truly using it for your condition. It may actually help some people.
I agree, it goes for any product. What I don’t understand is why incredibly wealthy (the woman is engaged to a billionaire?) people still shill for anything that might be questionable. Pharmaceuticals and diet products are so dicey, aren’t they? You never know what skeletons the company has in its closet or what the long-term effects might be. If I didn’t need the money, I would never do this. Sure, if you need the money (or not), endorse a shampoo or something. This feels risky to me. But I’m not used to ads for any drug stronger than aspirin, maybe that’s why.
Agreed. Especially since the type of drug that it is has the potential for addiction. I wouldn’t want my name on it. I have BED but will pass on the drug just for that aspect alone.
With her and Novak Djokovic, Serbs sure produced some amazing tennis players.
She was so amazing, God knows what could have been if she wasn’t stabbed.
I’m gobsmacked that an amphetamine can be used to treat BED! I wish her the best.
Of course it can! Vyvanse removes all appetite. I know. I was prescribed it for mis-diagnosed Adult ADD (I was actually depressed and thus distractable). I also behaved like someone high on cocaine while the drug was in my system.
This is a bullshit ploy by a greedy company to get another avenue to push their cocaine-equivalent to the masses. The demand by people struggling to control their weight to get access to amphetamines was just legitimated.
This will not serve those patients nor our society.
As a related aside, my ex-husband began taking my Vyvanse and became hooked. (No I did not know nor condone, but once he fell for the drug he knew what to ask for and he got it). The drug eventually unmasked otherwise unrevealed schizophrenia and so I lost my husband and the father of my child to this drug. Buyer beware. This happens to a significant percentage of patients.
I was correctly diagnosed with ADHD about 25 years ago, and I take Vyvanse. I’m using it correctly to promote a balance in my otherwise unbalanced cognitive system, and I don’t have any of the issues Embee has described. Medications work differently for different people. Vyvanse settles my overactive brain; with that and my mental workarounds, I can function in my job and in my life. For actual patients with accurate diagnoses, the medication is a beneficial part of the treatment plan. The medication was not created for people without a diagnosis or people looking for a quick high.
Just want to point out that Embee did say that the doctor mis-diagnosed and therefore erroneously prescribed the drug, and that the drug wasn’t effective for depression, which makes sense since that’s not what it was created to treat.
I question that particular drug being used to treat BED due to its potential for addiction and abuse. I have BED and will not take it because I have long periods in between my binges in which I don’t really eat; if it were to make me not hungry, I could starve to death, literally.
I had no idea she was engaged to Tom Golisano!!! I feel like that’s a gossip fail for me. 😉
Tom Golisano is from my town recently he moved to Florida because he felt nys was over taxing his property. But he is very generous with our community, always donating money and paychex is a huge part of our economy.
….”it doesn’t sit well with me that she’s discussing her binge eating disorder at the same time that she’s announcing that she’s a spokesperson. She’s advertising a prescription drug basically.”…
I find it natural when people support or are associated with a product which is somehow connected with their personal history.
Why campaign for liver charities if you have a kidney problem?
Well..she looks good now. But why plug the drug, Paychex billion $ is not enough? If she not getting paid for the plug, may be I will pay attention.
I think it is great she is being so open about it. I think it helps break stereotypes as well as she is a super fit athlete that still suffers from this – may make people question the judgment they throw at people of all shapes and sizes for this very real eating disorder. I’m a marathon runner and I’ve had trouble with this for my whole life. It’s not just overindulging. It’s an intake of a massive amount of calories (usually of the bad stuff) that makes you feel out of control, worthless and physically sick. And it’s a cycle that keeps repeating.
Eating disorders, of any kind, are horrible and can rule the lives of those who suffer from them.
I think I probably had BED for a few years in my late teens before graduating to bulimia. I couldn’t stand being overweight, and the bulimia took care of that. I am amazed that she never gained weight.
Regarding medication, I tried 3 or 4 different kinds in 12 years. Nothing really worked for too long. Mostly I was prescribed antidepressants or OCD meds or a combination of both. If this new med is an amphetamine,
does this mean it basically is controls the appetite? Not sure how I feel about that.
She did gain weight, after her attack. As I recall, that was part of her comeback struggle.
I struggled with bulimia for many, many years through recovery, relapses, anti-depressants, anti-seizure medications, and 12 step meetings.
I am recovered, but still have occasional times when I stress eat enormous amounts of carbs, which puts me back in danger of my old coping mechanism coming back.
Or my beginning, again, to use food as a drug to numb out painful situations.
I have been doing this for so long, it is a neural connection in my brain.
If this is not your battle, you can’t judge the choices that we who fight every day, make, to change our lives.
I started taking Vyvanse 2 mos ago, combine it with eating lots of protein, veggies & complex carbs, try to avoid sugar & flour.
Also take break 2 days a week so don’t get “addicted.”
Helps me with focus & concentration also, as I co-struggle with ADD (like many with EDs.)
Of course, with medication, you have to stay informed 🙂
If she was 19 in 1993, that makes her…like 40?? She looks more like 50.
Remember the amount of time professional tennis players spend sweating in the sun. There’s no sunblock on earth that can counteract all that, if you’re fair-skinned. I think she looks good.
I started playing tennis very young and she was the tennis player I looked up to. I saw her coming out of a department store one year in Novi Sad and to this day I remember how starstruck and i awe I was. A few years later she was stabbed on the court and our country was falling apart. I somehow connected the two in my youth. She never really recovered and I wonder whether anyone of that generation did… It’s good that young people have an array of tennis players to look up to from Serbia and once you’ve seen a scene like her stabbing (your idol) live, nowadays when I watch the tennis matches with our players it makes me worry about their safety every now and again.
I also played tennis and sufferend suffered from BED before graduating towards bulimia. Tennis players are very intense, very controlling and this extends to eating. But the body is hungry after exercising so much and I would have these out of control binge sessions. Its like a nightmare you’re in where you’re awake but can’t physically control yourself. Your body feels so alien and out of control. Then when you’re done it slowly dawns on you what you’ve done and you’re so frightened you just cry and cry. I am so happy to have her promote awareness of this problem, it validates what I’ve experienced. Having an extra bowl while you’re snacking after exercising is not at all the same situation and I think we have a lot way to go to promote compassion and understanding. This is a good first step.
+10000
My mind is stumbling over her being engaged to someone 32 years older than she is. This will be his fourth marriage.
Isn’t it convenient? The chemical companies create MSG that over excite your brain cells so you keep on eating processed foods and then they come out with a drug to make you stop overeating? How contradictory is that??? (I know why: money). For example just look at the ingredient list of a bag of American Cheetos: Monosodium Glutamate is listed. It is another word for MSG; how sneaky is that? That explains why when I start eating Cheetos I can hardly stop eating them. So now I just won’t touch them.