Bruce Willis is still regarded as one of the greatest and most beloved actors in the entire entertainment industry, even after his unexpected and devastating retirement due to frontotemporal dementia (FTD). However, as it turns out, the 69-year-old legend’s diagnosis of a disease like dementia wasn’t the only tragedy that befell the Willis family.
This comes after a series of recent revelations following heartbreakingly unfortunate events by Willis’ daughter Tallulah Willis. According to what she shared, the 30-year-old actress actually suffers from a lifelong neurological disorder, Autism, which she was diagnosed with only recently, but which she believes changed her life.
Bruce Willis’ Daughter Gets Candid About Her Autism Diagnosis
Recently, Talullah took to her Instagram handle (@buuski) to break out the news that she had been diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Posting a throwback clip of her hoisted on her father’s hip while he gave an interview on the red carpet, she wrote:
“Tell me [you’re] autistic without telling me [you’re] autistic.”
To this, one of her followers (@mfizzle98) asked her in the comment section if she had been diagnosed with this lifelong neurological disorder as a child, all the while praising her for being “brave and inspiring.” Replying to this comment, she revealed:
“Actually this is the first time I’ve ever publicly shared my diagnosis. Found out this summer and it’s changed my life,” she wrote alongside a sun emoji.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, Autism spectrum disorder aka ASD is actually a neurological developmental disorder that affects how a person behaves, communicates, and interacts with others.
While this “developmental” disorder’s symptoms usually start showing at 2 years of age, it can be diagnosed at any age.
Moreover, this disorder reportedly features restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, the latter of which can be spotted in the clip Tallulah Willis posted as she was seen constantly caressing her father’s bald head while he patiently gave the interview.
Yet while this was the first time Bruce Willis‘ 30-year-old daughter opened up about her Autism disorder, she has been pretty frank about the eating disorder she struggles with along with getting candid about her mental health battle before.
Tallulah Willis Also Suffered From an Eating Disorder
Last year in 2023, Tallulah shared with Vogue a self-written journal on her grief, healing, and the road ahead. It was in that where she mentioned that she suffered from anorexia nervosa, depression, and ADHD in her 20s as well.
Talking about her eating disorder, she wrote:
“For the last four years, I have suffered from anorexia nervosa, which I’ve been reluctant to talk about because, after getting sober at age 20, restricting food has felt like the last vice that I got to hold on to.”
But that wasn’t all. She also suffered from depression and talking about it, she wrote how she was “admitted to a residential treatment facility in Malibu” at the age of 25 “to address the depression that I had lived with through my adolescence.”
“It was a largely therapeutic experience; for the first time, I grieved the 15-year-old misfit me, the ugly duckling.”
Then came the part about her ADHD diagnosis, which was followed with “stimulant medication, which was transformative. I felt smart for the first time, but I also started to enjoy the appetite-suppressant side effect of the meds.”
Nonetheless, Tallulah Willis’ openness about everything she struggled with — from an eating disorder to depression to ADHD — only further highlights the necessity to destigmatize mental health problems, and instead, seek proper diagnosis and treatment for them.
All in all, the Willis family’s incredible story serves as a constant reminder that everyone, irrespective of their background or circumstances, deserves to be loved, understood, and supported throughout their journey of navigating the intricacies of mental health and well-being.
