Miley Cyrus Claims 'Hannah Montana' Gave Her Anxiety and Body Image Issues

Miley Cyrus is speaking up about her time working on Disney's hit show Hannah Montana. According to Cyrus, the idea of growing up and working on the show gave her "unrealistic beauty standards." Cyrus tells Marie Claire, "From the time I was 11, it was, 'You're a pop star! That means you have to be blonde, and you have to have long hair, and you have to put on some glittery tight thing.' Meanwhile, I'm this fragile little girl playing a 16-year-old in a wig and a ton of makeup. It was like Toddlers & Tiaras. I had fucking flippers." The incessant nudging and pushing really affected Cyrus and made her believe that she had to not only look a certain way, but behave a certain way. This all led to her having a very distorted view of her body and herself. "I was made to look like someone that I wasn't, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long, and then when I wasn't on that show, it was like, Who the f--- am I?" Marie Claire reports.

All of the forced caffeine and high expectations for perfect gave Cyrus anxiety. Page Six says, "I would have anxiety attacks. I'd get hot flashes, feel like I was about to pass up or throw up," she said. "It would happen a lot before shows, and I'd have to cancel. Then the anxiety started coming from anxiety. I would be with my friends, thinking, I should be having so much fun." Cyrus had other issues and body dysmorphic disorder is suspected because she was forced to focus on the perfection of her body. Her hours were long and hard and "Cyrus' mom considered whether to bring in lights to help treat her daughter's seasonal affective disorder," Entertainment Weekly says.

At this point Cyrus wants to admit to all of these factors in her career because she believes that telling your own story is better than someone else telling it for you. Cyrus continued to say, "I just had to keep going, be tough, be strong. Everything happened to me on that set," reports Entertainment Weekly. So maybe there's a rhyme and reason as to Cyrus's present behavior. Let's just hope she's not pointing fingers and hope that she can work past all of her difficulties.