Shailene Woodley Opens Up About 2013 Health Scare That Left Her Almost Immobile

Shailene Woodley is pulling back the curtains on her experience with what she described as a "conflation" of health issues.

The actress recalled that she began suffering a series of health problems while shooting the 2014 cinematic blockbuster, "Divergent."

Shailene Woodley admitted that her career was severely affected during the mystery illness episode, which saw her reject lots of projects as she did not have the physical strength to take them on.

The 32-year-old got candid on the Tuesday episode of the "She MD" podcast, hosted by Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thais Aliabadi, about her multiple health struggles in 2013.

"I was losing my hearing. I couldn't walk for longer than five minutes at a time without having to lay down for hours and hours and hours and sleep. Everything I ate hurt my stomach," the actress recalled.

The actress described the cause of her symptoms as a "personal thing," which she would not like to disclose. However, Woodley noted to the podcast hosts that it was very challenging to determine the cause of the symptoms.

The actress's confusion about how she got to that point in her life was very valid. According to her, she has always "eaten very healthy" and remained athletic.

She added: "And so, it was a confusing process for me to go, 'Well, what am I doing wrong? Why am I passing out every month when I get my period? Why am I hypothyroid?" 

Woodley noted that she also got different conclusions from different doctors. One even suggested she had endometriosis. In her words:

"...And another doctor going, 'It's probably this.' And another one going, 'It's probably that.' 'You have a tilted uterus. You have a heart-shaped uterus.' Every person I went to was giving me mixed information, and it set me on my own journey."

The feeling of physical discomfort opened up the door for her to experience "a lot of other things," including being afraid of food, body dysmorphia, "confusion about identity, and feeling safe in her own skin.

Following the scare, Woodley decided to "really take a deep look and become introspective" to address her physical and mental health.

According to her, "Alongside the physical healing was acknowledging the mental side of the healing process for myself, which involved looking at real traumas and real PTSD that I had experienced at various times in my life without going into detail about what they were."

After about a decade of "unwinding and healing"in order to get healthy again and take her health into her own hands, spending time teaching herself about holistic medicine and approaching her health problems from an "internal holistic place," her health issue "ultimately physically resolved itself."

Woodley happily revealed that she is "not on thyroid medication anymore" and that her hormones are balanced, adding, "Everything is pumping in the way it should."

The actress spoke on her illness for the first time in 2021 and noted that she suffered a great deal more than she had to because she initially refused "to be helped or taken care of."

Her decision ultimately "created more physical unrest" throughout years of dealing with the illness. In her words: "It spun me out for a while. You feel so incredibly isolated and alone."

Woodley also noted that it was difficult for people to relate to her pain as she did not show up with a broken arm or a broken leg; instead, it was "a silent, quiet, and invisible pain."

Earlier in the month, The Blast noted that the actress' plan for the future is to "wake up feeling content" and "go to sleep content."

Woodley noted that between waking up and tucking in for a good night's rest, she also wants  "it to feel raw, real, and expressive and deep and meaningful and simple and profound."

She continued: "Other than that, I leave a lot of room for magic. I want to be an actor and artist for the rest of my life. I want to create and tell meaningful stories."

Woodley did not rule love out of her future plans, too. The actress noted that she wants "to find a person to do life with, and have a family," and watch the sunset when the day is over.