Next Generation actress Marina Sirtis was 3 when she developed an eating disorder due to trauma from a real-life incident

In Hollywood’s entertainment industry, there have been many cases where celebrities have spoken openly about the trauma they experienced in their childhood. Among these celebrities was Marina Sirtis, the actress who rose to fame through her role as Deanna Troi in the smash hit Star Trek: The Next Generation Series.

According to Sirtis’ confession, she suffered trauma at a very young age – just three years old – because the babysitter’s children abused her as a child. This is devastating in itself, but what made it even worse was that this tragic real-life incident led to her developing an eating disorder and suffering severe psychological damage.

Star TrekMarina Sirtis was severely traumatized as a child

In a frank turn of events, British actress Marina Sirtis, who is known for her outstanding performances in projects from Star Trek Franchise, revealed her troubled past. She confessed that she had been sexually abused as a child by her carer’s teenage sons and had suffered severe trauma as a result.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, she said:

My mother always left me with a babysitter and her teenage sons abused me. I never told anyone because even at three years old you know it’s shameful and you think it’s somehow your fault.

As heartbreaking as it may be, this series of events became even worse as Sirtis grew and developed into the incredible woman she is today.

She confessed that although Sirtis had committed the assault at a very young age, she was unable to overcome it during her childhood. She soon suffered not only from severe psychological damage and trauma, but also from disorders that also affected her physical health.

Sirtis continued her revelations and said:

I suffered from an eating disorder for 20 years, starting at age 13, which is a fairly common response to sexual harassment. When I finally got therapy in LA—everyone in LA is in therapy, that’s a given—everyone in my group had been sexually abused at some point in their lives.

Needless to say, this is truly tragic. While it is one thing to experience such severe trauma, it is even more devastating to suffer a severe eating disorder as a result. Knowing that Sirtis, the actress who played Deanna Troi in TNGHaving suffered alone all this time makes it even worse.

But that’s not all. While it was one thing to go through it at such a young age, Sirtis must also have felt the trauma resurfacing when he was filming a particular episode of The next generation.

Marina Sirtis must have relived this trauma during filming TNG

In Star Trek: The Next GenerationThere was a particular episode in the series where something similar happened to Sirtis’ character in the saga, Deanna Troi. This happened in the 12th episode of the fifth season of the hit series, titled Violations.

In this episode, three Ullians – Inad, Tarmin, and Tarmin’s son Jev – board their spaceship as historians and for research purposes. However, their visit to the ship causes several characters to suffer from intense hallucinations and even severe comas.

One of the people affected was Sirtis’ Troi. As seen in the episode, after a pleasant encounter with Jev, Counselor Troi experiences a terrible hallucination and remembers her romantic meeting with Commander Riker.

While the memory itself wasn’t overwhelming at first, it soon developed into a critical episode for Troi as the Riker in her memory began to force himself on her. However, this episode inevitably became about her character suffering from telepathic R-PE, as none of it actually happened.

But even then, Sirtis must have been filming, which means that in this episode she must have relived the nightmare of being abused as a child in some form. That must have been incredibly hard for her.

Still, no matter how traumatic her past may have been for her, it’s incredible how Sirtis still managed to get through it and shoot this episode.

You can stream Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix.