Trans Model Claims She Was Involuntarily Held At A Psychiatric Hospital

Who is Nikita Dragun: YouTube star and makeup guru Nikita Dragun in a lengthy social media post revealed this week she was "involuntarily" kept in a psychiatric hospital and drugged "intensely." On Instagram, where she boasts of nine million followers, Dragun made revelations about the tough times in her life, including when she was detained and her rights "as a human" were taken away.

Her personal statement has been offered without context of time but has struck a chord with netizens who, in the comments beneath her post, are expressing solidarity with her.

Dragun talks about being "kicked out on Thanksgiving day" and being "picked up by police" before being hospitalised and "involuntarily" administered into a Psychiatric Behavioral Health Hospital. The name of the facility has been withheld in her post.

"I was broken," 25-year-old Dragun writes, alongside a series of photos, one of which shows her lying on what is presumably a hospital bed with medical contraptions near the bedside.

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"After getting called crazy so many times I almost wanted to just believe it. history is not kind to those seeking mental help... this trip to Virginia was my way of trying to reconnect… find myself again. the only people who seemed to understood me were the patients. bipolar, schizophrenic, etc. I finally found people who just saw me for me," she wrote.

Dragun has geotagged Virginia, United States and added a photo of the Riverside Behavioral Health Center in the state.

"I am a victim. I am a survivor. I am a lot of things but I am just a girl with a dream."

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Who Is Nikita Dragun?

Born in Belgium, Dragun grew up in the United States and at a young age became aware that she was "different." In an interview with Forbes, she revealed "it wasn’t until college that I really started to develop my trans identity."

She began her YouTube channel in 2013, which has now grown to a 3.6 million-strong community. She posts makeup videos, vlogs and beauty tips that run into thousands of views and documents her journey as a trans woman on social media. She founded her own line of makeup products, Dragun Beauty, that is breaking new inclusive ground in being marketed towards the trans community.