Big Brother 24 houseguest Paloma Aguilar self-evicted during week 1, and she now shares that it was because she had "sleep deprivation psychosis." Paloma, a 22-year-old real estate agent from San Diego, California, left the show before the first live eviction of the season due to "a personal issue." She had been having trouble sleeping and eating in the house, and her fellow houseguests were very concerned about the deterioration of her mental health. Paloma's exit was controversial because she had been one of the ringleaders of eventual winner Taylor Hale's bullying. However, some houseguests blamed Taylor for Paloma's departure, which Paloma later denied. Paloma's fellow contestants cried when she left the game, and fans were left wondering what had actually happened.
On The Hustle Huddle podcast, Paloma revealed that her self-eviction on Big Brother was due to "a sleep deprivation psychosis." Paloma explained that, during sleep deprivation psychosis, "your levels of dopamine are spiked in your brain, and so you naturally become high." She shared that some of her fellow houseguests also admitted that they felt high in the house. She said that they were confused because they were only getting about two to four hours of sleep, but they "were totally fine." They started to suspect that there was "something going on chemically." Paloma went on to say that day after day, she was not sleeping, and she was gaming constantly. She said that her brain was starting to picture a chessboard on which she was moving pawns. She said that she was "going crazy, almost hallucinating, and that is what happens when you're going through a sleep deprivation psychosis, very similar to a mania. So to say that I was manic is not even far off from the truth."
Paloma Does Not Regret Leaving Big Brother 24
Paloma blamed the Big Brother environment, including the stimulation, the colors, and the lights, for her lack of sleep. She said that "there are a hundred cameras that are constantly eating you alive." She began speaking rapidly and telling jokes that were actually cries for help due to her mania, including saying that the Big Brother houseguests were in Inception or a simulation created by Elon Musk. Paloma also shared that her attacks on Taylor were because of her state of mind due to sleep deprivation, and she fully apologized for what she said. Paloma finally left Big Brother when she had a panic attack during which her body was shaking, and she thought that she was going to have a heart attack and die.
She said that the other Big Brother houseguests cried when she left because they knew how serious her issues were. Paloma shared that walking away from the game "was a hard decision, but it was the right decision, and I wouldn't regret it at all." The day after she left the house, she was taken to a psychiatrist because "the levels of dopamine were spiked." She received medication "which was fantastic," and she dealt with some of the past trauma that had subconsciously caused her to deteriorate. Paloma said that she now knows that she suffers from clinical depression and severe anxiety, which even has caused her to have suicidal thoughts, but she is working on her "mental fitness."
Paloma's Big Brother mental health struggle shows that, no matter how prepared some people think they are for the game, they never know how they might react to that intense environment. Paloma's transparency about what she went through on Big Brother definitely can help others to recognize the symptoms of mental illness and get the help that they need. Although Paloma was painted as a villain at the beginning of the game, it quickly became clear that there was much more going on with her behavior than her simply being mean.
Although most Big Brother houseguests are able to play the game without it taking a serious toll on their mental health, many contestants have described the struggles that they faced when they had to adjust to the outside world. The game is intense, and certainly not for everyone. Paloma is fortunate that she was able to leave Big Brother and get the help that she needs in order to move on with her life and continue her journey toward better mental health.
Source: The Hustle Huddle