She makes headlines for what she’s wearing or how she looks, but Bella Hadid is turning inward and sharing mental health struggles with fans on social media. While outsiders may look at the 25-year-old model and say she has it easy, that’s not the case she says. What you see on social media does not reflect what she’s going through, a daily struggle with depression that she calls a “rollercoaster.”
As she watched a video of Willow Smith speaking about anxiety, insecurity and feelings of inadequacy, she was moved to share her own experience. “Social media is not real,” she writes. “For anyone struggling, please remember that. Sometimes all you’ve gotta hear is that you’re not alone. So, from me to you, you’re not alone. I love you; I see you, and I hear you.”
Hadid’s comments come alongside photos of the model crying alone. Images she says she captured while tackling the ups and downs of her sadness. “Self help and mental illness [or a] chemical imbalance [are] not linear and it is almost like a flowing rollercoaster of obstacles… it has its ups and downs, and side to sides,” she shared.
Hadid said it’s getting harder and harder for her to keep up the façade that she’s always happy and took the moment to encourage others who may also be dealing with their mental health journey in silence. “I want you to know, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and the rollercoaster always comes to a complete stop at some point….it took me a long time to get that in my mind, but I’ve had enough breakdowns and burnouts to know this: if you work hard enough on yourself, spending time alone to understand your traumas , triggers, joys, and routine, you will always be able to understand or learn more about your own pain and how to handle it. Which is all that you can ask of yourself.”
Fans, celebrities and fashion colleagues rallied around the model to thank her for honesty. “Your honesty and tenderness heals so many,” commented Willow Smith in a full circle moment.
