Bella Hadid penned down an emotional reflection about her chronic illness and how it is taking a toll on her mental health.
The supermodel, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was 16 years old, posted her crying images as she struggled with a recent flare-up.
Bella began with explaining how “intimidating” it is to make other people understand her condition and how it leads “to severe isolation and depression, especially over long periods of time.”
She went on to write, “You demand answers that no one can find. You fight. You finally have a few good days. You think you’ve found the right protocol, the right routine, the right treatment… and then a flare up comes back and all of a sudden nothing feels certain again.”
Bella admitted she finds it hard to make plans due to flare ups and she “never” knows how she will feel each day.
She explained. “You wake up with anxiety already living in your body. Physical pain before your feet even touch the floor….And somehow, still have to find the strength to move through another day in a body and mind that are completely exhausted.”
The model revealed that she now copes with her unexplained feelings by masking them, “Sometimes it feels like unless you’ve lived something like this, or loved someone who has, it’s impossible to fully understand.”
Bella then showed love and support to her followers going through something similar, writing, “There is light, even if you can’t see it today… There is hope”
She noted elsewhere, “I have so much gratitude for life, but without living in a body that has more rough days than good… It’s hard to find joy or purpose or reason to even go outside…but we will keep trying! always!”
Concluding her initial post with words of encouragement, noting, “You are loved. You are needed. Your life has purpose. And you will make it through every season life puts you through…love you and hold you deeply.”
In the subsequent stories, she continued to share more intimate reflections on her health battle along with emotional images, and shared how it is hard to do day-to-day tasks like bathing without fainting.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia bacteria and spread through the bite of infected blacklegged ( deer) ticks.”
