Yahoo Finance ‘I found myself again’: Bella Hadid opens up about taking a break from social media
Bella Hadid has opened up about taking a short social media break, and how it has affected her mental health.
The model, who usually posts daily on Instagram, spent a couple of weeks away from the platform to "reflect" and "learn about myself".
The 24-year-old posted on Instagram on Thursday 23 January explaining why she'd taken time away from posting.
She wrote that books had seen her through her time offline, and shared a series of images, including a stack of books on spirituality, a CD player, some crystals and herself horse-riding.
In her post, Hadid admitted she has "always lacked" a sense of self love, and that her time away from social media has helped her "find my light again".
She wrote: "I took some time away to reflect and learn about myself in a way that would be too much to explain at the moment, but with time I will express.
"The memories and fortune I came back with are pure wisdom, a closer relationship with myself & my spirituality, a sense of self-love that I have always lacked, a few great friends, and these books that saw me through. I found myself, my strength and my light again."
The star concluded by urging her followers to "take the time to get help for your mental health", adding: "It’s worth it to get to your full potential."
Last summer, Hadid took to Instagram to inform her fans about the "aggressive symptoms" she experiences due to Lyme disease.
The 24-year-old was first diagnosed with the condition, which spreads to humans by infected ticks, in 2012.
In a series of Instagram stories, some shared from the account of Joudie Kalla, a Palestinian chef and fellow Lyme disease sufferer, Hadid referred to the illness as an “invisible disease”.
In one post, Hadid shared a diagram of the ways Lyme disease can affect people, adding arrows to the symptoms she experiences on a daily basis.
Among the symptoms highlighted by the model were headaches, brain fog, sensitivity to light and noise, thyroid dysfunction, inflammation, joint pain and numbness.
Alongside the list, she wrote: “Everyday I feel at least 10 of these attributes without fail... since I was probably 14, but more aggressively when I turned 18.”
According to the NHS, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks and is usually easier to treat if it is diagnosed early.
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