Victoria's Secret Angel's Secret Battle: Sara Sampaio on Trichotillomania, Anxiety & the Pressure to Be Perfect

Change Your Brain Every Day

Dr Daniel Amen

Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the runway, everything looks flawless. Behind the scenes, the struggle was real. In this raw and revealing conversation, Sara Sampaio—best known for her work with Victoria's Secret—opens up about her long-standing battle with trichotillomania and anxiety while navigating one of the most image-driven industries in the world.

Sara shares what it's like to live with a body-focused repetitive behavior that many people don't understand, how anxiety amplified the pressure of perfection, and why speaking publicly about her mental health became part of her healing journey.

In this episode, we explore:

What trichotillomania really is (and why it's often misunderstood)
The hidden mental health toll of the modeling industry
Managing anxiety under constant public scrutiny
Letting go of perfection and embracing vulnerability
Why sharing your struggle can be empowering

This is more than a story about beauty standards—it's about courage, self-acceptance, and breaking the silence around mental health. Because sometimes the strongest thing you can do… is be honest.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse.
0:07.1	Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day.
0:16.0	Hi, Sarah.
0:16.8	Hi, doctor.
0:17.8	How are you?
0:18.8	Oh, great to meet you.
0:20.8	It's nice to meet you too. I'm really excited.
0:22.6	Are you excited to see your brain?
0:24.6	I mean, yeah, as long as there's nothing we are there, I'm happy.
0:28.6	You have a beautiful brain.
0:29.6	Do I? Yes, thank you.
0:32.6	But it's busy.
0:33.6	Very busy.
0:34.6	So, let's go find out.
0:36.6	Okay, let's figure it out. I read your history. I looked at your
0:43.5	scans. I just looked at your testing. So I have a good idea what's going on, but I want to hear
0:49.4	from you your goal. And how can I be really helpful to you?
0:55.0	I've been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and, like, low-grade depression.
1:05.0	I've been on Zoloft for now, I think, two years, and I was on another one two other ones before but this is
1:16.5	the one that has been fitting the most but I still just don't I just don't feel good
1:22.0	it's hard to explain but it's like I'm always tired. I'm just like, I still get like ups and downs.
1:35.3	I don't know, I just don't like feel, it's hard to explain, but it's like I don't feel good.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr Daniel Amen, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dr Daniel Amen and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.