Let’s Talk about Mental Health: YouTubers and Twitch Streamers Speak Up.

A first step to get the help you need when you are struggling with mental difficulties is to talk about it with someone. However, it can be very difficult to feel comfortable enough to talk about such deeply personal things. One way we try to encourage people to speak up is by creating an open dialogue, one not only being held by researchers and doctors, but also by those who themselves are struggling with mental health problems.

One recent trend that has been encouraging to see is well-known people talking about their own personal mental health struggles. Recently, a number of YouTubers and Twitch streamers have starting telling their viewers what they have personally gone through mentally, starting a conversation with their fans in the hope they can break the stigma and make it easier to talk about these topics.

Below you can find a couple of videos of popular YouTubers and Twitch streamers talking about their own mental health. If you yourself are struggling, perhaps the videos below will help encourage you to take that next step and reach out. They also makes clear that - whatever you are struggling with - you’re certainly not alone!


Jacksepticeye


Jacksepticeye (AKA Jack) is a popular Let’s Player and vlogger, and his YouTube channel has over 20 million subscribers. Therefore we are very encouraged to see him taking time to create videos in which he openly talks about topics such as anxiety and depression and tries to answer your questions on the topic with the help of a mental health expert.




SheSnaps


SheSnaps is a twitch streamer and gamer. One day she opened up about her personal struggles with depression on twitter, and this led to such an outpouring of support that she decided to do a twitch stream about the topic. This was very well received, and viewers started revealing their own struggles with the same issues. SheSnaps recognized that her viewers needed a place to talk about these problems, and her channel quickly turned into a place to do just that: a place where gamers, viewers and streamers can openly discuss mental health.

You can find a number of her videos on her Twitch Channel: SheSnaps on Twitch.


Jack Harries


Jack Harries, a popular YouTube vlogger (AKA JacksGap) together with his identical twin Finn, left YouTube without much of an announcement for a considerable amount of time, leaving his fans guessing about his absence. This year, 2,5 years after his last video, he uploaded a talk he gave at To Do Lectures during which he talks about the experiences with his channel, his depression and his struggles with mental health and social media as a content producer, with the aim of starting the conversation about mental health and what type of image we try to project online.




ElleOfTheMills


Elle Mills is a youtuber, and was hailed by some as the most exciting new thing to happen on YouTube in recent years. However, this sudden popularity brought a high amount of pressure and stress causing her to burn out and fall into a depression at a very young age. In the video below Elle Mills shows a very raw take on what it is like to deal with this type of pressure to constantly create and be at her best, that reaching your dreams doesn’t necessarily make you happy, and how she’s trying to figure out what to do about it.

Warning: The video is very open, and shows an honest depiction of dealing with burn out and depression, including angry outbursts, cursing and the despair one can feel in these circumstances.







Author

Babet Halberstadt

PhD candidate with a background in neuroscience, now combining her love of gaming with her interest in the brain and human behaviour. Collector of useless skills, photographer, illustrator, and ukulele player.

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