After her media blitz to promote “Selma,” Oprah was back in our spotlight. Her failure to capture the ratings on her OWN network including a drawn out interview with Lance Armstrong and Lindsay Lohan made us forget her even faster. But now she’s back with a hit movie (that has certainly divided Oscar voters) and I have to admit that I missed her.

Although she’s been parodied multiple times for her “eccentricities” (probably the best one by MadTV), her weight has always been the subject of ridicule. She finally disclosed (in her O Magazine nonetheless) that she has been dealing with thyroid-related illnesses, which can alter one’s metabolic rate and cause dramatic weight gain. While Oprah attributes her weight fluctuations to her thyroid, she does mention in the article the effect of her weight gain on her psyche. She writes, “I didn’t want to go anywhere, and I didn’t want to be seen anymore than I had to.” It’s a wonderful admission by undoubtedly the most powerful woman in America. Any AA member will tell you that admission is the first step.

During the 1990s (the height of Oprah’s media power), approximately 35 percent of adults in the United States were considered obese (a body weight greater than 20 percent above an individual’s normal weight). A more striking figure is that eating disorders increased seven-fold in the 1990s from the decade prior. Many researchers don’t consider eating disorders a separate psychiatric diagnosis. Instead, they consider them variants of other illnesses, primarily schizophrenia and mood disorders (i.e. depression).

Like treatment for other psychiatric illnesses, the cure for body dysmorphic disorder begins with therapy. For all her 30 years in show business, Oprah has essentially been running a therapy group under the disguise of a talk-show. Each episode seemingly dealt with serious issues, like depression and eating disorders, that she was able to maintain a weight comfortable for her. If only we all had a billion dollar empire, treatment would be so easy.