After her death was ruled a suicide, Cheslie’s mother, April Simpkins, issued astatement to the press explaining that Cheslie suffered from high-functioning depression, a condition that she is said to have hidden from everyone.

To those who are familiar with the world of beauty pageants, the fact that Cheslie was struggling with mental health issues probably did not come as a surprise.

“While the pageant industry may market itself as a hero of mental health and a place where women are empowered to be ‘confidently beautiful,’ the reality is the pageant lifestyle has the opposite effect, leaving many women with low self-esteem, uncertainty, and deep depression that, as we’ve seen, can lead to death,” explains Viktoria Fox, a lawyer and expert in the cannabis and cryptocurrency industries who serves as CEO of Polaris Capital.

Viktoria, who was the 2020 Miss Oregon United States pageant winner and a finalist in the 2022 Miss Oregon USA pageant, learned quickly that competing in beauty pageants, whether on the local or national level, means enduring months, if not years, of pressure to live up to unrealistic expectations. She also discovered that pageant coaches, who are often described as a participant’s primary mentor and confidant, rarely consider the toll that pageant life takes on one’s mental health.

“As someone who's worked with multiple coaches, mental health concerns are often overlooked because it is assumed that pageant women are accomplished Type A personalities and that they can just handle it,” explains Viktoria. “The coach/contestant relationship is primarily focused on winning and doing whatever it takes.”

Unfortunately, the “whatever it takes” Viktoria refers to can involve embracing a lifestyle that is overwhelming for even the most confident women.Clinical research has suggested links between pageant participation and mental health issues such as eating disorders and negative body image. In the wake of Cheslie Kryst’s death, many pageant participants came forward toconfirm that what the research suggests about mental health struggles is the reality.

In addition to the pressure to look good and perform well on pageant stages, those competing in pageants now also face the pressure to look perfect on social media, where cyberbullying is common. In anarticle published in Allure in March 2021, Cheslie Kryst wrote about the hateful online comments she received from trolls, saying, “I can’t tell you how many times I have deleted comments on my social media pages that had vomit emojis and insults telling me I wasn’t pretty enough to be Miss USA.”

Viktoria has also been the subject of cyberbullying. After finishing in the top five in the Miss Oregon USA pageant in 2022, former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey took aim at her, posting comments saying Viktoria “looks 50 with a whole lotta plastic surgery.”

Despite the rising concerns over negative mental health impacts, many continue to celebrate beauty pageants as places where women are empowered and given a platform to advance their careers and promote the causes that they care about. TheMiss USA pageant promotes itself as a place where women “claim their beauty and voice.” TheMiss Universe pageant says it empowers women to “realize their goals through experiences that build self-confidence and create opportunities for success.”

Viktoria says her experience left her feeling more unsettled than empowered.

“Back when I was new to the industry, I remember always feeling more confused and unsure of myself after each coaching session,” Viktoria explains. “The irony was that I was supposed to get the opposite effect. I didn't understand why until after talking with my brother, who is a psychologist. He helped me to realize that pageant participant are constantly bombarded with mixed messages. One moment we're told to be a “Girl Boss,” but then we’re discouraged from speaking freely and honestly during interviews.”

2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the first Miss America Beauty Pageant, which is considered the pageant that kicked off the movement. As the second century of pageants begins to unfold, the Cheslie Kryst tragedy makes it clear that there are issues that need to be addressed.

Viktoria suggests that one solution for putting an end to the stress and toxicity is rediscovering the reason that the pageant movement got started: entertainment.

“These young women are still finding their way through life, yet must act like they already have the answers. They're not as strong and successful as they are made out to be,” says Viktoria. “The industry needs to go back to its roots and accept that this is all just entertainment. By marketing itself as some higher cause, it is actually doing a disservice to the next generation of young girls.”