Tennis legend Jelena Dokic opens up about her eating disorder and says therapy saved her life
Jelena Dokic opened up about her eating disorder in the most recent issue of Stellar magazine, will be published on Sunday, September 10.
The former professional tennis player, 40, revealed that she struggled with her relationship with food for years due to the trauma she experienced growing up.
She said much of her disordered eating stemmed from the abuse she suffered from her father and his weaponization of food when she was just a teenager.
“I actually haven’t talked about my eating disorder (yet) because I didn’t understand it for so long,” she said.
‘But now I know that in more than 90 percent of people who do have an eating disorder, this stems from trauma.’
Jelena Dokic, 40, (photo) opened up about her eating disorder in the latest issue of Stellar magazine, which will be released this Sunday, September 10.
The former professional tennis player revealed that she struggled with her relationship with food for years due to the trauma she experienced growing up
The sports commentator further said: ‘Getting professional help saved my life. I find the eating disorder quite complex. I’m working very hard on it.’
Jelena assured that she has made great progress in healing the trauma she experienced at the beginning of her tennis career and as a child refugee.
She said writing her memoir Fearless: Finding The Power To Thrive was a “huge step” and admitted she now has “more balance” in her life.
It comes after Jelena shone a light on the “sad reality” of domestic violence after posting heartbreaking photos of the violence she suffered as a young tennis player.
The Australian has long been open about her struggles with depression, social media abuse, body shaming and the domestic violence she has suffered throughout her career.
In her latest book, Unbreakable, she revealed that her father was regularly beaten with a belt or hard-topped boot, and that she was once knocked unconscious by him.
She said much of her disordered eating stemmed from the abuse she suffered from her father and his weaponization of food when she was just a teenager.
Jelena previously revealed the abuse she suffered when she showed off her bruised legs at the age of 17 and revealed they belonged to her father who brutally kicked her
In April, Jelena posted photos of herself at 17 with bruised legs on Instagram, saying she is “sad and angry” about the countless number of women who are victims of abuse.
“Swollen, bruised and bleeding shins from being hit and kicked in the shins with sharp shoes all night because I lost a match,” she posted on Instagram.
‘These photos were taken over two weeks later and I was still badly bruised. I was 17 years old.
“To this day I still have tender and bumpy shins from these blows.”
The sports commentator said: ‘Getting professional help saved my life. I find the eating disorder quite complex. I’m working very hard on it’