Speaking about Lyme disease, Bella Hadid does not sound like a world-famous model, who is under the protection of image management. She sounds as a person who has been tried privately living publicly. In a recent interview with her sister, Gigi Hadid, on Vogue Italia, the 29-year-old shared how the emotional aspect of the decision to leave fashion to focus on her health affected her. She had the credibility of experience in her words, particularly when she confessed that she felt emotional because you feel disposable. Her reflection resonates deeply in a business environment that operates under the speed, visibility and reinvention.
Lyme disease is usually misrepresented. It is a bacterial infection that is spread by tick bites, although initial medication could be helpful, a large proportion of patients have symptoms that are persistent, including tiredness, joint aches, neural problems, and cognitive distortions. The condition may be highly disruptive to an individual whose livelihood is based on bodily robustness, travel, being camera ready, and endless work schedules. It is not the first time that Bella Hadid addresses her long-term experience with the illness, but this time around, she was not so concerned with symptoms but rather with identity.
She had declined all the modeling offers in almost one year to have treatment. That sort of lack, in the fashion industry, is professional suicide. Campaign cycles are short. Designers move on quickly. Faces change with seasons. Even the well-known names can realize that relevance is delicate. Bella admitted that taking a break caused an unwanted emotional tension. It was not the sickness, but the silence that came after her disappearance that was the most difficult. I was sad as you are so dispensable, I told Gigi.
It is a savage candor in the statement. On the one hand, the modeling industry is glamorous, and on the other, there is a mechanism of constant demand and changing. In case one model is unable to walk, another can. In case of failure of one campaign, there is another face to fill the frame. When Bella admits that she is able to internalize such logic so easily even with the most recognizable figures. The cessation of work can give rise to self-doubt.
But her absence also changed her sense of value. She had confessed over the years, yes to all the opportunities seemed necessary. What is good about me does not need to go to the occupations that I say yes to. So long, it was impossible to say no to a job, like, who was I to say no to anything? The question itself is a sign of the mentality that is prevalent not only in fashion but in competitive industries too. Achievement may put a strain to be constantly accessible. Saying no to work can be ungrateful or perilous.
The only thing that changed about Bella was not only her health but her limits as well. She had to stop because of illness; and it was in being thus stopped that she came to face with the fear that she would be forgotten. The fear became loosened over time. She started realizing that her identity could not be based only on bookings, runways or campaigns. The discovery was not so dramatic. It was slow, progressing by recuperation and looks and being out of earshot.
However, at some point she said she reached a point of release. I needed to sort of discharge it and be like, I believe people know my heart and my personality and who I am now enough that I can discharge it and do the jobs that are with and for the people that I love and trust and support and respect. That line signifies the beginning of not proving but making a decision. It proposes a shift in permanent confirmation to selective confirmation.
The fact that she credits her sister also gives the story an extra dimension. Bella attributed to Gigi the modelling of the significance of boundaries and advocacy. It is very significant, not only speaking on yourself, but your friends and the people surrounding you, she said. And, in high-stress settings, where people are usually urged to suffer in silence, such advocacy can be revolutionary. It redefines ambition as no longer on a continuum of unconditional compliance but rather as self-knowledgeable and self-respectful involvement.
It is especially musical to listen to the speech of a supermodel on the subject of disposability. The general belief in the society is that fame is a hedge to insecurity. However, the reflection of Bella highlights a universal fact: external success is a factor that does not make vulnerable people less vulnerable. As a matter of fact, the more visible it is the more it comes under scrutiny. The fashion business can augment these forces yet the underlying feelings are familiar to anyone who has left the office because of an ill or burnout and thought whether he or she is still needed.
The theme of her story is also a wider discussion on chronic illness in career demanding professions. Lyme disease particularly when the symptoms continue can interfere with not only physical but also mental health. Frustration when patients are not understood or taken seriously due to their symptom manifestation that is not always apparent is a frequent manifestation of the patient. In a model who is establishing their career on looks, it becomes more complicated to find a way to live with a disease that can not be seen. What the public perceives as glamour can be medical appointments, fatigue and uncertainty because this is the reality in the private life.
The most striking aspect of the reflection that Bella Hadid attempts to capture is not that she accuses but rather recalibrates. She does not present her one year absence as a failure. Rather, it is a time of re-calculating priorities. The stress she shared on the emotional level was one that was actual, but so was the development that ensued. Tackling the issue of fear of replaceability, it seems that the confrontation has helped her have a more stable sense of self that is not wholly dependent on outside demand.
This is accompanied by tension, of course. The fashion industry is a dynamic one. The need to be visible does not go away even with renewed boundaries. One may say that it is not as challenging when one is already established. That may be true to an extent. Nevertheless, the readiness to describe the psychological price of relentless productivity provides a glimpse of an industry that few industries take a break.
