Vanessa Lopes speaks out for the first time after withdrawing from BBB
“I still think the decision was a relief, I'm still very happy. Of course, I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity because it is a unique opportunity, an opportunity that most people want. But I wasn't ready to live that yet. “That's why I'd rather be at home, getting medical care, taking my medication, and being with my family and friends than actually being the way I was there,” Vanessa says .
Vanessa Lopes is 22 years old, born in Brasília and grew up in Recife. She rose to fame for sharing choreography and routines with her more than 40 million followers on social media. At the beginning of the year, Vanessa was in the Big Brother Brasil house and a change in behavior caught the attention of the other contestants.
“According to my psychiatrist, I had an acute psychotic state that was as if my mind had become detached from reality. It's like I no longer understood what was the fantasy in my head and what was real. This happened because of stress, because of lack of sleep, fears, fear of what happens outside the program, fear of what happens inside the program,” says Vanessa.
Vanessa adds: “I created several fanfictions in my head and always said, 'Look, maybe what I wanted in my head is real or not'.”
She reports that she has had episodes in her life in which she required medical attention, but emphasizes that I have never had this particular condition in my life.
Parental support
While participating in BBB, Vanessa received psychological support. And the family, who watched everything on television, maintained a constant dialogue with the show's team. When Vanessa showed the first signs, her father took to the Internet to reassure fans.
Vanessa's parents initially believed that their daughter's actions were a game strategy. The father says he spoke to Vanessa on the phone shortly after she left the show.
“She said 'Dad, look, I love my grandfather, I love you,' but the word was incoherent, you know? That was difficult. I'm sorry.”
For the mother, the meeting at the airport was the most intense moment. “She broke down and then I had the feeling that she really didn't know if we were real, right?” the mother remembers.
1 of 1 Vanessa Lopes speaks to Fantástico — Photo: Reproduction/Globo Vanessa Lopes speaks to Fantástico — Photo: Reproduction/Globo
Psychiatric treatment
Vanessa began psychiatric treatment shortly afterwards. The doctor handling the case is also president of the Brazilian Psychiatric Association and explains that what happened to her within the BBB can happen to anyone, even without a history of mental illness.
“Acute psychotic states are those states in which the person regains the characteristics of normal functioning and suddenly breaks with reality and begins to live a parallel reality. It is not necessary to have a history to make this diagnosis “In the future it will depend entirely on what you do now in the face of the disease. The sooner you intervene, the sooner you will have a better outcome and prognosis,” says Antônio Geraldo da Silva, president of the Brazilian Psychiatry Association.
When asked if the work has any connection to what happened in the program, Vanessa believes it does.
“I definitely think it has something to do with it. Fear of judgment, fear of what people will think of us, that was what concerned me most at that moment. Everything I've ever experienced with the internet, all the opinions and judgments people have had about me.” “It was certainly my pain that came out in me, I have no doubt about that,” he emphasizes.
Vanessa follows the doctor's orders and is surrounded by the affection of her family. Without social media, she went back to playing volleyball with her friends, a sport she had played since she was a teenager.
“I think two words that define me are relief and fear. Relief because I have family and friends who are very supportive during this time, with physical activities and fear of judgment,” he reports.
“Sometimes I think that my generation is a generation that is in a big hurry. It's a generation that says, 'You have to do this, you have to do that,' but in order to do anything we have to first take care of ourselves,” he concludes.
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