This week, celebrities from all across the globe have been sharing their two cents regarding mental illness for Mental Health Awareness Day; celebrated on Oct 10.
One Lebanese star that has caught everyone’s attention is Mashrou Leila’s lead singer Hamed Sinno. The artist who is known for being unapologetic with a fierce on-stage persona gave us a glimpse of his mental reality in an extremely powerful social media post.
Sinno shared a photo of himself smiling, yet described himself as miserable. The singer had lost a lot of weight, which led everyone to compliment him on looking fitter and healthier. Yet, Sinno was starving himself due to the way he percieved his body image.
“This was a few days before I was admitted into the hospital, having fainted in college, because of a temporary heart problem caused by starvation and malnutrition,” Sinno explained.
“Over the years, I’ve gotten more comfortable with my body image, or at least accepted that I don’t need to look like the men in magazines, but the world still likes to tell me when they think I’ve gained weight. After the Cairo incident two years ago, I had to double my dosage of antidepressants. This made me gain a lot of weight. Complete strangers commented about my weight gain on my social media. People I haven’t spoken to in years felt entitled to touch my body and comment about how flabby it had gotten,” The lead singer added.
Sinno explained that he has been dieting since to reverse the weight gain, and while people are complimenting him, he still thinks it is part of a bigger problem. No one should feel free to comment on your body. No one is aware of your inner struggles. No one estimate the impact of such comments.
Sinno bravely shared that men are subjected to eating disorders just as much as women. This is the type of inspiration we need from artists with gigantic and influential platforms.