Social media influencer Mikayla Noguiera has spoken candidly about her physical and mental health.
On 21 July, the makeup artist – who’s gained more than 13m followers on TikTok for her honest beauty reviews – posted a video to her new personal account @lifewithmikaylajane, where she explained to her followers that her mental health has hit “rock bottom,” and she will be using the account to document her health journey, including her eating disorder.
"I, unfortunately, am struggling really bad with my mental health,” she began the three-minute video. “I’m in one of the worst mental states I’ve ever been in a really long time. Thankfully, today I’m having a good day. But my eating disorder is out of control."
Noguiera, 24, explained that she decided to make the new TikTok account in order to “document my journey of getting better.” For the past few weeks, she has sought both treatment and therapy for her eating disorder, and added that she wants to be “happy” with herself when she gets married in a year to her fiancé, Cody.
“I honestly let myself go for a really long time and I haven’t been taking care of myself,” she said. “So, all of that is going to change because I’ve hit a rock bottom essentially and I’d like to go up.”
The Massachusetts-native went on to say that she will also be losing weight, not for looks but “for health reasons”. However, she is worried about the emotions the weight loss process will uncover due to her eating disorder.
“As someone with an eating disorder, losing weight is not necessarily always a good idea,” she revealed. “But I want to live a long healthy life. As of right now, I’m not on that track..and that’s scary when you have an eating disorder. I don’t want to spiral out of control even more, so I’m in treatment and therapy and we’re going to do this together.”
Noguiera admitted that she’s “very scared to go on this journey,” but concluded the candid video with the inspiring message: “I’m holding it together right now because I’m hopeful and that is so important.”
As of 22 July, Noguiera’s gained 246,000 followers on @lifewithmikaylajane with almost 1m views on her inaugural TikTok video. Since sharing the update, fellow social media influencers have flooded the comments section with kind words of encouragement for Noguiera.
“I’m sending you all the love in the world,” said TikToker Chris Olsen.
“LOVE YOU,” said transgender Victoria’s Secret model Emira D’Spain. “Thank you so much for sharing and being so open with us queen.”
In April, the makeup guru previously opened up about embracing her body after she gained 60 pounds. “I recently gained 60 pounds,” she said in a TikTok video posted to her main account. “At first it was really difficult to accept that I have a new body. I’m 4’11, 200 pounds, and at first that was really scary to me. But I’m going to learn to love my body the way it is.”
Last January, Nogueira detailed her struggle with bulimia in a video posted to TikTok. The influencer explained that she had been battling the eating disorder for more than seven years before relapsing in January 2021.
“My eating disorder has stolen so much from me: joy, relationships, but most importantly, my health. I feel like that’s the one thing people don’t talk about,” she said. “While I’ve been at war with my eating disorder for seven years, I’ve never let it win any of its battles. Some battles are longer than others and some battles are a little harder than others, but I’ve never let it win and I never will.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
