The Young and the Restless Star Cait Fairbanks Opens Up About Her Eating Disorder

The Young and the Restless shined a light on eating disorders in the 1980s when Traci Abbott, who suffered from bulimia, took diet pills to try to control her body image. Now, actress Cait Fairbanks is sharing her own history with eating disorder issues.

Cait Fairbanks And Body Image

Fairbanks (Tessa) shared a full-length selfie on her Instagram account and wrote a lengthy post about her past issues with how she felt about herself. “We all have things we don’t like about ourselves,” the actress wrote. “I’m pretty open about anxiety and depression, not for attention, but to try and reach out to those who may feel the same.”

Fairbanks says that she grew up feeling she had to fit into a certain category when she’d go out on auditions — and she felt she never succeeded at finding out what her category was.

“I took my pain and anger out on my body. I’d starve myself (a few hundred calories day) then binge, then make myself vomit. Rinse, repeat, you get it. I started working out, then that became another obsession, hours in the gym every day, twice a day. I wasn’t seeing any changes I wanted. I was so hard on myself.”

Fortunately, time and self-examination helped Fairbanks come to a better place. “I’ve reached this point in my life where I just want to stop hurting myself,” TV’s Tessa says. “I’ve been working out every day, but listening to my body. I’ve been eating well and drinking water, cut drinking, staying in when I need, forgiving myself.”

Why come forward now? Fairbanks is hoping that her story will help her followers who may be going through a similar crisis. “I’m not sure who needs to hear this, maybe no one, but I hope that you can be patient and kind to yourself,” she says. “I’m not very good at it, but I’m lucky to have amazing people in my life who are patient and kind to me. Thank you.” The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for air times.