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Jean-Victor Blanc is the founder of the Pop & Psy festival, which was held from October 7 to 9. His goal: to raise awareness of mental health through pop culture. For Brut., he comes back to 5 stars who have spoken on this subject.
Selena Gomez, Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Naomi Osaka… All these celebrities, from the world of cinema, music or sport, have broken the taboo of mental health. They each spoke about their troubles, and opened the debate in the public space. Jean-Victor Blanc is a psychiatrist and founder of the Pop & Psy festival, which talks about mental health through pop culture. For him, these stars have raised awareness of mental well-being.
Lady Gaga has spoken a lot about her own mental health, and has in particular transcribed it into her art. “He is the first personality to speak of a psychotic episode. With her words, she explains it simply, her brain began to derail a little and to have ideas or perceptions that did not exist. She made a song of it, her title 911, in which she also explains the help given to her by anti-psychotic drugs, that is to say drugs that will help the brain to no longer have these ideas that go in all directions”, explains Jean-Victor Blanc.
But psychological distress is also taboo in the field of sport, and is very little mentioned by athletes in the media. “In 2021, the world #1 tenniswoman at the time Naomi Osaka explained that she could not participate in the Roland Garros competition due to mental disorders, in particular depression. It was the first time that an athlete of this caliber had spoken openly about a mental health problem and finally explained something quite simple: she could not work because of a mental disorder.”, adds the psychiatrist.