Bella Hadid in Pain: Supermodel Admits She's Suffering From 'Invisible' Illness
Bella Hadid opened up and spoke the truth about the invisible illness she has been dealing with for years now.
In 2019, Bella was recognized due to the accurate proportions of her face, which came closest to the Golden Ratio of Beauty standard -- the idea of perfection and beauty by the early Greeks.
However, behind her beautiful face lies a sad story about her health.
The 23-year-old supermodel reposted on her Instagram Stories the infographics of Lyme disease symptoms made by chef Joudie Kalla, via People.
Bella shared her insights on the post, including the lengthy list of symptoms she, unfortunately, experiences on a daily basis.
"Every day I feel at least 10 of these attributes without fail ... since I was probably 14, but more aggressively when I turned 18," Bella wrote. "What we suffer daily. With no cure."
The said two dozen of symptoms include difficulty of breathing, headaches, sudden changes in body temperature, eating disorders, insomnia, nausea, weight gain or loss, joint pain, brain fog, and light and sound sensitivity, among others.
Because of the several not visually apparent manifestations she encounters, Bella referred to Lyme disease as "the invisible disease."
The dreaded disease also crushed the trendsetter and expert equestrian's dream to be at the 2016 Olympics. Bella was supposed to join the equestrian competition at that time. However, she was reportedly pulled out due to the worsening symptoms of Lyme disease.
Her mom, the former "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Yolanda, and brother, Anwar, are suffering from the same infectious disease.
On a Bravo blog created by her mother in 2016, the matriarch mentioned that Bella needed to give up her ultimate dream of joining the Olympics because of the disease.
Furthermore, the model found it hard to ride due to the severity of her condition. The unsuccessful attempt was heartbreaking for her, and indeed a tremendously painful topic to talk about.
Meanwhile, her sister, Gigi, does not have Lyme disease.
The elder Hadid, who is expecting her first child with Zayn Malik, opened up last year about the "guilt" she used to feel about not suffering from the same disease when it affects her family.
"Growing up, having three of my family members sick made me very independent. My mom couldn't drive or get out of bed some days, so I took my brother to school with me, or I made lunch," Gigi told Elle in 2019. "It's hard when your whole family is in pain and you don't know what to do."
Netizens Fail to Validate Bella's Feelings
While Bella is suffering physically, mentally, and emotionally due to the disease, some netizens failed to be sensitive enough to support her.
"A lot of people today have all these symptoms. I think it is from all the chemicals they shove in our food... dyes, preservatives, steroids. Plus most processed foods are wholly lacking in vitamin and mineral content. We eat garbage and then wonder why we feel so bad," one netizen said, seemingly giving Bella another diagnosis.
Another one claimed that she might have fibromyalgia. The same netizen also said that Lyme disease is easy to be cured with antibiotics.
Meanwhile, a Bella supporter defended the model and disapproved the snide comments.
