Tallulah Willis, the youngest daughter of Bruce Willis and ex-wife Demi Moore, is speaking out about her body dysmorphia and the mental toll of constantly being told she looks like her movie star father.
“Took me way too long to realize that: A. Aging happens without your control, time passes and your face can change,” she began a lengthy Instagram post Sunday that featured photos of her, as well as shots of her mother.
Willis, 27, went on to say she had trouble accepting that she didn’t resemble Moore.
“I punished myself for not looking like my mom, after being told I was BW twin since birth - I resented the resemblance as I believed wholly my ‘masculine’ face was the sole reason for my unlovability - FALSE!” she wrote. “I was/am inherently valuable and worthy, at any life stage, at any size, with anyhair do! (As are you).”
Willis, who announced her engagement to director Dillon Buss earlier this month, also wrote that people must pay attention to what’s inside them “before trying to ‘fix’ the outsides.”
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“Be mindful of the special and impressionable minds around you and their access to social media and potential triggering imagery or the indicators that hyper-focusing on ones appearance goes deeper then just wanting to feel good in their own skin,” she wrote.
“We all want to feel good, and confident but when it creeps into a deeper, spookier place where it begins to devour your essence bit by bit, ask for help. Do not feel ashamed, this is not a ‘stupid, vain issue’ this is a genuine psychological pain and I see you so clearly and witness the validity in your struggle.”
Willis, who made headlines last year when she let her father shave her head during quarantine, also outlined some steps people can take while struggling with body dysmorphic disorder, including covering or removing mirrors, stepping away from social media, reading and writing, taking walks, and surrounding yourself with people who can help.
She wrapped up with a simple reminder.
“REMEMBER that you are allowed to take things 5 minutes at a time. for as long as you need to,” she concluded.