Drag Race star Miss Fame. | Photo: Miss Fame / Instagram
Drag Race star Miss Fame (real name Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen) reveals she’s struggled with her mental health since she was 15.
The season seven RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant took to Twitter to share her story.
She wrote in a series of tweets: ‘I wake up most days overwhelmed or anxious. I think I’m addicted to the feeling.’
Miss Fame goes on to talk about the struggles of her friends and family in dealing with mental illnesses, financial instability, addiction, domestic abuse and failing physical health.
Photo: Miss Fame / Instagram
She wrote: ‘Knowing their struggle pains me as I can relate [to] the hurt of these special members in my circle.
‘I sometimes sit with my sadness and trauma. It’s impossible to remove the film, like memories of the past, but eventually I get a flicker of inspiration to rise again. To find purpose and community and share my message – to hopefully encourage [others].’
Miss Fame: Therapy ‘set me free’
She then continued in a post specifically titled Mental Health.
The Drag Race star talks about the first time she sought medical treatment for her mental health. Around this time, a group of random men attacked and killed her grandfather, who she describes as a ‘father figure since birth.’
She wrote: ‘The thought of being forced to talk about my sadness was a non-option then. It took me getting sober at 20 and working on myself to take the advise (sic) of another person I respected.’
Miss Fame describes a meeting with her therapist: ‘He gave me hope and I had to learn to trust him, which was a better option than taking myself out of this planet. He taught me how to walk through my pain, face every dark chapter and release myself from the emotion[al] baggage.’
She then said: ‘I cried, I shook, I hyperventilated and got physically sick to my stomach as I do when I’m overwhelmed.’
She describes feeling set ‘free’ after a year of therapy. And now she’s sharing her story in the hope of inspiring others.
Miss Fame made headlines in 2016 when a fashion photographer mistook her for Lady Gaga. She also teamed up with Todrick Hall to do his make-up for his new song, Dem Beats.
See the full posts:
Me. Post 1 of 2. pic.twitter.com/2S9OWGRvAN
— Miss Fame (@MissFameNYC) May 3, 2018
Me. Post 2 of 2. pic.twitter.com/KyrbgJoXfK
— Miss Fame (@MissFameNYC) May 3, 2018
Mental health. Post 1 of 2. pic.twitter.com/Tgb8xVGAJm
— Miss Fame (@MissFameNYC) May 3, 2018
Mental health. Post 2 of 2. pic.twitter.com/g6GE7o6kw5
— Miss Fame (@MissFameNYC) May 3, 2018
