Bella Hadid has opened up about her struggles with anxiety and defended posting selfies where she could be seen crying during a tough time.
During an appearance on Wall Street Journal’s My Monday Morning on Monday (17 January), the 25-year-old model discussed her experiences with anxiety in response to a question about her secret to putting together a “great outfit,” with Hadid explaining that she hasn’t had a stylist in nearly two years, and that being on her own contributed to her struggles with mental health.
“I haven’t had a stylist in a long time, maybe two years now. I was in such a weird place mentally that it was really complicated for me to get out of the house and put an outfit together, especially with the anxiety of [paparazzi] being outside and all that,” she said. “In the last year, it was really important for me to learn that even if people talk about my style or if they like it or if they don’t, it doesn’t matter, because it’s my style.”
According to Hadid, rather than worrying about what others think, now when she leaves the house in the morning “what I think about is: Does this make me happy? Do I feel good in this and do I feel comfortable?”
During the interview, the supermodel also spoke about the photographs she posted to Instagram of herself crying in November 2021.
“That post made me less lonely because I had a lot of people that have reached out saying: ‘I feel that way too,’” Hadid, one of the world’s top models, said.
“[I posted those photos] to make sure that anybody that was feeling that way knew it was okay to feel that way,” she continued. “Even though on Instagram things look so beautiful, at the end of the day, we are all cut from the same cloth.”
“I felt like it was just good for me to be able to speak my truth and at some point, I wasn’t able to post nice pretty pictures anymore. I was over it.”
Hadid further explained that she’s not sure if such photos are something people want on Instagram, “and that’s fine”.
“I don’t have to be on Instagram forever. I feel like real is the new real, and that’s what’s important to me,” the model added.
Speaking of her current mental health, Hadid said: “I do have good days. Today is a good day.”
“My brain fog is feeling better, I don’t feel depressed. I don’t have as much anxiety as I usually do. But tomorrow I could wake up and [be] the complete opposite. That’s why I get so overwhelmed,” she revealed.
In her November post, Hadid explained that coping with anxiety, depression, and burnout has been her reality “every day, every night” for a few years now.
The Versace muse has addressed her struggles with anxiety and depression in the past as well.
In 2019, Hadid said she found it hard to reconcile her professional success with the state of her mental health.
Speaking at the Vogue Fashion Festival at the time, Hadid explained: “I feel guilty for being able to live this incredible life, have the opportunities that I do, but somehow still be depressed. It doesn’t make sense.”
