Sara Evans recently shared her struggles with mental health, bravely discussing her battles with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia.
During an appearance on Cheryl Burke’s podcast, “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans,” the country singer spoke about dealing with public scrutiny as a celebrity. She admitted that the opinions of others do affect her greatly, especially given her own personal struggles.
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“It does bother me a lot,” Evans confessed. “I have an eating disorder. I’m more scared of being fat than anything in the world, and that’s not good. That’s not normal.”
Evans also admitted her challenges with body dysmorphia, a condition where individuals obsess over perceived flaws in their appearance, even if those flaws are minor or nonexistent.
The pressure to maintain a particular body image even came from her record label, who would question about her weight after each of her pregnancy’s.
“My record label, every time I had a baby, they would be like, ‘When’s she gonna lose weight?’” she revealed.
Social media hasn’t made things easier, with hurtful comments, including one about her appearance that read, “What happened to your face?”
“I just wanted to respond, like, ‘How dare you?’ ” she said. “I haven’t done anything to my face. I’ve had Botox. You wanna know what happened to my face? I’m 52.”
Despite her struggles, Evans has been open about her mental health journey, which extends beyond body image issues.
In an interview with PEOPLE, she revealed her battles with anxiety, PTSD, and claustrophobia since childhood, stemming from a traumatic car accident.
“I had severe PTSD and anxiety, but it was the ’80s, and I didn’t have a name for it,” she said. “I don’t think my mother even thought, like, ‘Maybe I should take her to therapy.’ I thought I could handle it because I’m tough.”
While she initially didn’t seek help for her mental health issues, Evans eventually found help through anti-anxiety medication, which she credits with saving her life.
“It calmed me down,” she said. “Taking it also made me realize you’re not going to be this way forever. I always tell my kids, ‘The toll that anxiety takes on your body and on your mind, I think, is so much worse than if you have to take [medication] to calm down.’ ”
“I still struggle,” Evans said. “But I’m so grateful for every second of this life.”