TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Miss USA has resigned her title for the first time, citing mental health reasons.
One mental health advocate praises Miss USA’s decision, especially since May is mental health awareness month.
“I think she used her platform in an amazing way. We all grew up aspiring to one day be Miss USA or whatever. It’s great for girls to see like, oh, ok, like I can speak up about this, I can say something,” said Paola Dgyves, project assistant for Healthy Minds, Healthy Futures.
Miss USA Noelia Voight announced her resignation this past week, and the shock didn’t stop there: Miss USA’s teen, UmaSofia Srivastava, announced she was also resigning just a few days later.
Many USA titleholders supported Noelia’s decision, including the current Miss Arizona USA, who said that ” prioritizing mental health is of the utmost importance.”
Isabel Ticlo, Miss Arizona 2018 and Miss Arizona USA 2022, spoke on her experience coping with mental health while wearing the crown.
“In full candor, there were many moments where I did feel stressed or anxious because you only get this opportunity once or maybe twice in your lifetime, right?” Ticlo said. “So, you wanna do a really good job. You don’t want to do a disservice to the judges who picked you. The other girls you were competing against or the people who are watching you in this role.”
Dgyves emphasized how important it is to prioritize your mental health just as much as you would your heart or gut, no matter who you are.
But seeing someone like Miss USA being so vocal about putting her mental health first hopefully means more people will do the same.
And Ticlo echoed that statement.
“I admire their courage in being able to relinquish their titles in pursuit of mental health, healing and advocacy because we recently lost a very beloved former Miss USA who died by suicide,” Ticlo said. “And that’s one too many lives lost to this.”
Ticlo added that she hopes Noelia and Uma can continue speaking about their experience. She says their voices will be the key to opening the door to more conversations surrounding mental health and putting it at the forefront.
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