Bella Younger, aka Deliciously Stella, is famed for her hilarious parody Instagram account, which pokes fun at wellness bloggers.
But the comedienne, who’s amassed more than 141,000 followers, has revealed that behind the lens, it isn’t always fun and games.
In an article for Vogue, Younger opened up about her struggle with mental illness, saying she previously used her jokey persona to “paper over the cracks” of depression.
She reminded readers that “life through the lens of a filter is not always what it seems”, revealing she’s cut down on her social media use for the good of her health.
Younger highlighted that mental illness can affect anyone, regardless of how successful they are perceived to be.
“In October 2016, I should have been on cloud nine. I had just finished a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, my Instagram followers numbered 20,000 and the ink was drying on my freshly signed book deal,” she said.
In reality she’d been signed off of work while she sought treatment for her mental health.
“I’d spent my week traipsing in and out of hospitals, hearing words like ‘major depressive’, ‘severe anxiety’ and, most terrifyingly, ‘bipolar’...To my friends and my thousands of followers I was a viral internet sensation, high on likes and drunk off admiration but, in reality, I was about to have my first nervous breakdown.”
Thanks to therapy, medication changes and a stay at The Priory, Younger said she “slowly started to feel better”.
Now, she’s decided to put herself under less pressure by cutting down on the amount she posts on social media.
She said: “I will always be grateful to social media for what it’s done for my career, but I’ll never post to paper over the cracks again.”