Credit: Kate Nutt
Lindi Ortega is gearing up to release her fifth studio album, Liberty, on March 30 and in a new article featured on Lenny Letter, the singer opens up about her lifelong struggle with body-dysmorphic disorder.
Ortega is extremely honest about her often debilitating condition. She cites an experience being bullied as a teen for making her go into a spiral of self-consciousness and obsession with her appearance.
“When I was thirteen, I showed up to a party where I happened to be wearing the same top as one of the ‘pretty girls’ in my class,” she writes. “Noting this, a boy lined us up side by side and decided it would be fun to compare us. His cruel assessment of me, in front of my peers, was devastating. Up until that point, I hadn’t really had any comparison for my looks; I thought I was normal. It wasn’t until people told me I was ugly that I started to believe that I truly was.”
For years, Ortega says she struggled with her appearance. “My self-image grew so distorted that I actually convinced myself I was deformed,” she continues. Thanks to extensive therapy and support from her mother, Ortega has learned to cope with BDD.
“People often ask me where my dark, lonely songs come from. This is that place,” she concedes. Read her heartfelt post here.
Ortega proves to be a positive role model as she speaks out about the struggle one goes through with BDD and works hard to overcome her ongoing battle with BDD. Listen to her new single, fittingly titled “The Comeback Kid,” below.