Hannah Ferrier’s struggles with anxiety and panic attacks have surfaced over the five seasons that she’s been Chief Stew on Below Deck Mediterranean. In the past, Captain Sandy Yawn displayed some degree of empathy towards Hannah. She even let her take a day off during charter to regroup after a particularly taxing flare up. This season, unfortunately, Hannah was not in trustworthy company when she was on her knees in distress and asking for a Valium. Bosun Malia White took the liberty of reporting Hannah’s prescriptions, not the morning after the incident, but in retaliation for an unrelated matter days later.
It’s simply too convenient that production was itching for a cast shake-up and Hannah was just not into the job anymore. They found a willing participant to take advantage of Hannah’s vulnerability. And while Hannah should have registered her medicines with the boat, and perhaps it was time for her to leave the industry, the way Malia and Sandy were complicit in taking Hannah down has left them at the mercy of fan backlash.
Hannah answered questions about Sandy’s rampage into her bathroom and Malia’s incorrect classification of her prescriptions during an interview with Decider.
Hannah described how she felt reliving the moment Sandy barged into her cabin bathroom after firing her.
RELATED: Hannah Ferrier Says It Was A “Hannah Thing, Not A Valium Thing” When Captain Sandy Yawn Fired Her From Below Deck Mediterranean
“I’m actually just really disturbed. I think especially seeing how it played out. Obviously when I’m in the moment, it’s very confronting. It’s very shocking,” Hannah recalled.
Hannah said, “I think especially just saying things like, ‘Is she flushing the drugs?’ You can see on my face when she opens that bathroom door. My pants are undone. I’m going to the bathroom. I’m like, why would I flush my medication? But it wouldn’t have crossed my mind to flush Valium, because I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong. It’s anti-anxiety medication. It’s like, it’s five milligrams of Valium! It was just disappointing.”
RELATED: Below Deck Mediterranean Alum Hannah Ferrier Said She Never Took Valium The Entire Charter Season
While Hannah’s real crime here was an administrative one, both Sandy and Malia are making her out to be, at the very least, an un-seaworthy, drug-dependent person. Malia uses the word “narcotics” a lot.
Hannah watched Malia on Watch What Happens Live and reacted to her responses to Andy Cohen. “And then, I think it’s been more disappointing seeing the reaction now because we’ve had some time,” Hannah said. She added, “maybe people could step back and go, ‘Okay, I was a little harsh.’ To see Malia on Watch What Happens Live, and using the word ‘narcotic.’ It’s not narcotics. It’s anti-anxiety medication. I think I’ve just been really disappointed because I feel I’m being painted as some sort of drug addict or what have you.”
RELATED: Hannah Ferrier Calls Malia White A “Snake” For Waiting Until They Argued To Report Her Prescription Medication To Captain Sandy Yawn On Below Deck Mediterranean
Hannah feels victimized and targeted for her mental health struggles. Maybe there is a worthy movement here to help those with anxiety and depression feel less marginalized.
Hannah concluded, “which is just so sad, because there are so many people in the world that suffer from mental illness. And it’s 2020. We shouldn’t be making people feel like a lesser for taking medication for mental illness. Or making them feel like they can’t do a job, or they can’t do what normal people can do.”
RELATED: Below Deck Alum Adrienne Gang Slams Malia White As “Extremely Self-Absorbed”; Says Captain Sandy Yawn Is “Petty” And “Manipulative” For More Air Time
Methinks Hannah is the real winner here. She seems much happier and healthier now. She had a great run on the show, and now awaits the birth of her first child with boyfriend, Josh.
Meanwhile, the show has just had the biggest shakeup in its history. Will viewers tune in to see what’s next?
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TELL US- DO YOU THINK SANDY WAS RIGHT TO SUSPECT HANNAH OF FLUSHING DRUGS? IS MALIA CORRECT TO CALL VALIUM A NARCOTIC? HOW WOULD YOU HAVE HANDLED THIS SITUATION IF YOU WERE SANDY?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
