‘Big Brother’ Alumni Speak Up About Seeing Psychiatrists During Filming As Current Houseguest Suffers

Warning: This article contains potential spoilers for Big Brother Season 20.

Big Brother has often been regarded as a social experiment more than a reality television series/competition. Houseguests on the popular show live in total seclusion with no access to television, internet, or cell phones. Contestants on the show are also prohibited from singing and quoting movies. They also are not allowed any books (other than religious texts) or the ability to write with pen and paper. Anyone who lives under these conditions for up to 100 days will likely go stir crazy once in a while, but each season it appears to affect one houseguest more than anyone else.

This season, welder Sam Bledsoe seems to be suffering greatly from living in the Big Brother house and has even tried to self-evict several times as the Inquisitr previously reported. The situation with Sam might be more severe than live feed viewers have guessed, as a Big Brother spoiler account on Twitter has noted Sam continually visits the diary room for emotional support.

As news of Sam’s struggles spread online, some previous Big Brother contestants have spoken out regarding living under stressful circumstances and speaking with psychiatrists during their stay in the house. Visits with psychiatrists are something viewers will never see and something many had no idea even took place.

Big Brother Season 19 contestant Jessica Graf spoke out about seeing someone during her stay in the house recently on Twitter.

“I talked to the psych during last season. Staying sane in that house is impossible,” she tweeted in response to the spoiler account.

Season 15 winner Andy Herren also commented on houseguests seeing psychiatrists during his stint on the show.

“This definitely happened with a few people my season. Won’t name names, but I know they talked with producers/the show’s psychiatrist. In addition, the entire cast also has a mandatory one on one mid-season check-in with the psychiatrist in the DR,” Andy tweeted regarding Sam speaking with a psychiatrist.

Fans of Jessica and Andy appreciated their tweets regarding Sam and for coming forward to let viewers know she is not alone. It was also refreshing for some to hear that there were mandatory visits with a psychiatrist halfway through the season, meaning CBS took the mental health of their houseguests seriously.

Sam’s battle with living in the house likely won’t play out on television, as she has only been shown crying several times about feeling stuck in there. Her mental health and meetings with doctors will not be shown on television either.

Big Brother airs every Sunday at 8 p.m. EST, and Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.