Love Island’s Belle Hassan – ‘I self harmed to feel better – I had so much emotion but couldn’t talk about it’

It's not an easy subject to tackle – but Love Island'sBelle Hassan has bravely opened up to OK! about her teenage history of self-harming – and how she turned her life around.

The 25-year-old, who appeared on series five of the TV dating show, admitted that she had "a lot of hate towards herself" when she was a teen and it resulted in self-harm between the ages of 13 and 19.

She said: “I was trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted from life. I had a lot of self-hate and felt like I wasn’t enough.

“People ask me what made you do it, and being honest I have no idea. I think I did it to feel better – I had so much emotion but I never knew how to talk about it. Now, I’m so open with my family and friends but back then I felt shame or was worried I’d get into trouble.

“Looking back I wish I was honest about it sooner because when I did eventually open up, it was almost the start of my recovery. It was hard though because I think my family put blame on themselves, so I had that on my shoulders. But it was nothing to do with them – it was a battle with myself.”

Belle remembers the exact moment her mind shifted and she pushed herself to stop, and focus on other things in life.

“I wanted to do hair extensions as part of my job, and I had to do a course. I remember it being really hot and I couldn’t wear a short sleeve t-shirt because of my arms. It was then I thought ‘I need to stop this, it’s ridiculous’. Enough was enough," she continued.

“Self-harm is sort of like having an addiction, you’re susceptible to relapses. I say to people ‘don’t be so hard on yourself if you relapse’ because it shows you have strength.”

But learning to love yourself and stepping away from negativity is something that is difficult, Belle admitted. She said she needed to find a source of escapism and do something she really loves – and she found it in the beauty industry.

“Beauty and make-up gave me an escapism. When my mental health isn't in the best place, beauty gives me something to focus on and take my mind off of it. It's my own creative outlet and helps create your own identity.

“I was forced to learn to love myself and my mum made it a priority to instil that in me. I wanted to dye my hair, get tattoos and change everything, but she taught me you need to love yourself before making any changes.”

“I didn’t agree with her at the time, but looking back I’m so glad I listened. I’ve never had anything done, I don’t have filler or anything. The only fake thing about me is my hair and nails.”

The star also credits her time on Love Island for helping shape her as a person, and admitted her confidence grew while on the show.

“Love Island really helped me, it made me more independent and made me realise what I was really capable of," she said. "You’re on your own in there and don’t really know anyone, so it forced me to believe in myself. They had a great welfare team too who were always on hand if I needed to talk to someone.”

And now, Belle is using her platform to help others going through the same thing and striving to create an empowering community online for young girls.

She said: “I’ve started doing what I call a MUA Monday on Instagram – I’ve help set up a community for others to chat about what they’re going through. Everyone is really supportive and young girls have reached out to say I’ve helped them.

“I don’t cover up my scars, I’m not embarrassed about them. It was something in my life that I went through and really shaped me

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