'Men, women abused me': Supermodel Bella Hadid opens up about mental health struggles

US model Bella Hadid poses as she arrives for the screening of the film "Tre Piani" (Three Floors) at the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 11, 2021.
AFP/Valery Hache

MANILA, Philippines —  Model Bella Hadid recently opened up about her mental health struggles in the new podcast show of Victoria's Secret on Apple titled "VS Voices." 

During her appearance, Hadid reflects on her former "people-pleasing" patterns that took a major toll on her mental health.

"I started to not have boundaries, not only sexually, physically, emotionally, but then it went into my workspace. I began to be a people-pleaser with my job and it was everyone else's opinion of me that mattered except for my own, because I essentially was putting my worth into the hands of everyone else and that was the detriment of it," she said.

Bella also talked about her tendency to go back to people and situations that abused her emotionally. 

"I constantly went back to men — and also, women — that had abused me, and that's where the people-pleasing came in," she told host Amanda de Cadenet on the recent episode.

The former Victoria's Secret model also talked about her difficulties in dealing with past romantic relationships. "My nervous system would crash. It was like fight or flight. Either I would become silent and cry and just go inward or I would lash out and leave," she said.

Bella then shared that through a combination of therapy, meditation, creative endeavours, and social media cleansing, she has learned to embrace a life that "feels true" to her reality. 

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