Carrie Otis: anorexia treatment, drug treatment

A girl from a simple family, Carre Otis (Carre Otis) began her modeling career at the age of 22. In this business, she managed to achieve a lot: she became the face of such popular brands as Guess, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein. But fame came to her after playing the lead role in the movie “Wild Orchid”. The girl was immediately recognized as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. But who then would have thought what sacrifices Otis made for the sake of popularity …

Only then will she dare to tell the whole truth about the modeling business, about her personal life and about the problems she had to face. Carrie Otis has released her autobiography, Beauty Disrupted: A Memoir. In the book, Carrie writes candidly about her eating disorders, as well as drug and alcohol addiction. In addition, Otis gives recommendations and advice to all girls on how to find the strength to overcome harmful attachments and find inner harmony.

Now the former model and actress is doing well. She is married, has a daughter, leads a healthy lifestyle, does charity work and plans to publish a second book.

But what happened a few years ago?

Carrie Otis has always dreamed of a modeling career. But how can a fat-prone girl succeed? After several refusals from modeling agencies, Otis decided to lose weight. “Want to know what my diet was? Four to six cups of black coffee a day with skimmed artificial milk, and instead of snacks – a pack of cigarettes, – Carrie will say later. “It helped me recharge my energy for the whole day.” Of course, with such a lifestyle, she reached the ideal parameters for those times. She began to receive job offers. “The main thing is that no one even knew about my lifestyle. I was offered to eat, but I refused. She said that she had eaten recently, the model admits. “But the worst thing was different. When I became very thin and emaciated, everyone began to admire me, everyone said that I was beautiful … At the same time, no one thought about my health. Nobody gave a damn about the ways in which I lost weight. ” So, Carrie Otis has become one of the most demanded models. She starred for advertising famous clothing brands, took part in many shows at Fashion Weeks. Everyone knew her. But what was the downside to success?

“I looked perfect in the campaign photos. I was cheerful and happy. I had perfect skin, face, hair … But this is a hoax. In my life, I was not like that, – Carrie will tell reporters later. – I was skinny. This was important for stylists and photographers. But I had serious problems with my skin, hair and teeth. The enamel on my teeth has worn off from coffee and cigarettes. A snow-white smile is a photoshop. Also, from the wrong lifestyle, my skin was terrible: there were acne on my face. Makeup artists had to work hard to achieve the perfect tone. When it comes to hair, everything you see in the photos is cheating too. Thick hair is a chignon. In fact, my hair was brittle and dull. “

In addition to all of the above, Otis began to have serious health problems. “Due to constant nervous tension, starvation and a huge amount of coffee I drank, I could not sleep. I closed my eyes and immediately opened them. My sleep lasted a maximum of an hour, ”Carrie once said. In the end, the body malfunctioned: with a heart attack, the girl was hospitalized in the hospital …

With the help of specialists, she managed to improve her health, and then nutrition. And a few years later, Carrie Otis became a plus size model and the face of Marina Rinaldi for obese women.

Now she can give valuable advice to all anorexic sufferers. In an interview, she once advised all dieters to read the books by her friend Carolyn Costin, Your Daughter on a Diet and 8 Steps to Overcoming Eating Problems.

Refusal to eat is not Carrie Otis’s only problem. The model and actress does not hide that she took drugs. “Cocaine was then everything, and everyone used it. Working as a model is very exhausting. You work until nightfall, sleep for a couple of hours, and then drive back to the shoot. People used drugs not only to be thin, but also as a way to adapt to this crazy lifestyle, ”writes Otis in his autobiography.

She was also taught to drugs by her first husband, actor Mickey Rourke, whom she met on the set of the movie “Wild Orchid”. This union was a real test for the girl. “We were the perfect couple – both from the dysfunctional, both wanted to change something. But then I was very young and was influenced by one of America’s most famous actors, ”Otis later said. After nine years of marriage, fortunately for both, their marriage fell apart. Married life with Rourke Carrie considers the most difficult period in his life. He was far from an ideal husband: he drank a lot, took drugs, cheated on Otis and even beat her. Drugs helped her to forget. Life with Rourke became a vicious circle for her. “I was ready to let him kill myself, I wanted to commit suicide myself. I was crazy about drugs, – Carrie will say many years later. “I don’t know how it could have ended: he would have killed me or I would have killed him.” An accident helped to find the strength and leave Carrie’s husband: the girl almost died of an overdose. She was saved. She was treated for a long time in a drug treatment clinic, and after recovering she did not return to Rourke.

Carrie Otis’s addictions began as a child. The parents of the former model and actress drank a lot. And at the age of nine, Carrie began to drink herself. She stole whiskey and often came to school drunk.

For a long time, Otis drank alcohol every day. Only then does she frankly admit it. “At some point, alcohol didn’t even work for me. I wasn’t drunk. But I still drank whiskey like people drink water, ”Carrie once said. There was a period when Otis was able to temporarily abandon this addiction. The girl worked hard and replaced the whiskey with coffee and cigarettes. However, after filming the movie “Wild Orchid” Carrie began to drink alcohol again, now with her husband Mickey Rourke. 

With this longest addiction, Carrie also managed to say goodbye once and for all. After being discharged from the drug addiction clinic, the former model and actress completely gave up alcohol.

Once and for all, Otis was helped by yoga classes to stop drinking, drugs and cigarettes. “I have gone through a long course of rehabilitation programs. Thanks to the specialists who worked with me, I was able to see a different life. Yoga, therapy and meditation are my best friends, ”says Carrie Otis. First, the star of the movie “Wild Orchid” did yoga every day. She got up at four in the morning, meditated and did all kinds of asanas for hours … This continued until the birth of her daughter. “My life changed dramatically when I became a mother. I didn’t quit yoga, but I didn’t do it every day, but two or three times a week. This time was enough for me. And it’s good that I haven’t filled my whole life with this hobby. Everything should be measured, – says the former model and actress. “Taking the child to school, making dinner is also a kind of yoga.”

As for food, Carrie has no diets and dietary restrictions. “Now I eat whatever I want. I do not forget about food and do not let my mood or any life circumstances affect my appetite, Otis admits. – I am raising my daughter so that she treats food as fuel and medicine for our body. In our family, we don’t talk about diets at all, we don’t say the word “fat”. We think about shape, not size, health, not thinness … “

In addition, Carrie Otis is not afraid to express her opinion about beauty standards in all her interviews. She has said more than once that magazines and designers impose their own rules. “Models in everyday life do not look the same as on the pages of glossy magazines. This needs to be conveyed to all women, ”said Carrie in one of her interviews. Otis also stands for natural beauty. She has a negative attitude towards surgical interventions. Once she was asked the question: what does she think about Mickey Rourke’s numerous plastic surgeries? “People go to surgeons to correct not their appearance, but something inside themselves,” said Carrie. – Once, looking in the mirror, instead of 100 disadvantages, try to find 100 advantages. Find the courage to love and help yourself, as our friends help and love us. “