On the poster for the series “The disappeared from the Black Forest”, this Thursday January 5, 2023 on TF1, Hélène de Fougerolles has not only had easy moments in her career. The actress fought for a long time against depression, and even made a stay in a psychiatric hospital of which she has very bad memories.
Mental health is a subject less and less taboo in France, and the stars are more likely than ever to discuss subjects such as eating disorders, or depression. A few months ago, the actor Ramzi Bedia evoked his stay in a psychiatric hospital so as not to have to do his military service. But if the actor “feigned madness” to get himself committed, Helen of Fougerollesshe was hospitalized for very different reasons.
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Anorexia and attempted suicide
Hélène de Fougerolles began her acting career when she was only 15, and she quickly found success thanks to roles in “La plage” or “Fanfan la Tulipe.” But the ups and downs of life took a toll on her mental health, as she confided to Paris Match in 2021: “The life of an actress is made up of highs and very lows. I realize that I always have to prove, convince, that nothing is ever certain! My situation is getting worse at high speed.” “Result, she is riddled with debt and his mind plays yo-yo between anorexia and bulimia. Suicide attempt, psychiatric hospital”, says the magazine.
This stay, she told it on the antenna of Europe 1: “It was twenty years ago, I do not know how it is today, I do not know if the anorexics are locked up in glass cages, that was the case at the time”, she recalls before specifying: “Supposedly it was going to perhaps help them to want to continue to live and to feed themselves, it did not work not a lot.”
A traumatic stay
During this interview, the former star of the series “Balthazar” confides to having been victim of medical abuse during his stay. “I was not accompanied at all by these professionals and psychologists who are supposed to be there to accompany us. I saw no empathy and no benevolence in these people, and I saw a lot of them. […] In these places, I don’t understand how one can want to live.” Especially since the drugs did not help: “I was stuffed with pills and I saw all these people, none smiling, and who decided to keep me locked up because I could be a danger to myself.”
In a recent interview with Tele-Leisure, Hélène de Fougerolles affirms that it was not the psychiatrists who helped her to get better, but the good advice of a friend. “At one point in my life, I became paranoid, I couldn’t leave my house. I was depressed. The shrinks offered to lock me up or put me on medication, but a friend suggested to do hypnosis. It pulled me out of the hole and I said to myself that, if one day I had to learn a new profession, this would be it.” To take care of her body and her mind, the actress turned to meditation, but also to a Japanese method of care: “After obtaining my diplomas, I opened up to reiki, yoga, all these methods personal development programs that just allow you to get in the right vibe.” So many things that allow him to cultivate a healthier and more positive attitude.
Video. “I had become paranoid”: Hélène de Fougerolles cash on her depression
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