⚠️ Trigger warning: This video addresses burnout, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. If you feel uncomfortable with this, it is better not to watch this episode alone.
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The stress for influencers is apparently greater than the public realizes. After several YouTubers such as Josef Buchholz (“Joey's Jungle”) and Melina Sophie Baumann (“Melina Sophie”) announced their retirement a few weeks ago, other social media stars are now talking about the pressure in the industry. “You have the feeling that you are being watched the whole time,” says YouTuber Jasmin alias “Gnu” in an interview with the funk-format STRG_F . With 1.24 million subscribers on YouTube, she is considered Germany's most successful gaming influencer. She describes the constant involvement with Analytics – YouTube’s usage analysis system – as a stressful feedback loop. The workload is also enormous. “Many people think that you sit down, play and record games,” says the gamer. But it is “ultimately a lot of stress. “
YouTuber Florian Diedrich alias “LeFloid” describes in the STRG_F interview how the stress led him to alcohol abuse.
In order to be able to fulfill his workload and his role on the channel, he started drinking alcohol at some point - even during the streams. “I then realized that I was developing in an incredibly unhealthy direction,” says LeFloid. Then he pulled the ripcord. As dazzling as the world of influencers often seems, the business is tough. For some, constant stress leads to serious psychological problems. As a teenager, Roman Lochmann and his twin brother published videos on YouTube under the name “Die Lochis”. In an interview with STRG_F , he says that he is now suffering from anxiety and panic attacks.
“There were really dark phases that had a direct connection to this career.” The brothers have since left the band. The platform's algorithm rewards those who publish new things regularly and consistently.
TikToker Nadine Breaty, who has around eight million followers on TikTok, has not taken a vacation in a year and a half. The last time she took a few days off, she lost 10,000 followers on her second channel, Instagram. For YouTuber Pascal Becker, who is known as streamer “Kalle Koschinsky,” the overwork ended in burnout. This has been a long time coming. “I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was overworked,” said Becker. “Especially in our job, there are no sick notes.” not want to comment STRG_F on the question of what responsibility YouTube has for the mental health of its creators.
If you are feeling down and depressed yourself, please seek help.
We have listed a few contact points for you here: ➡️ Telephone counseling (available 24/7): Tel. 0800-1110111 / 0800-1110222
https://www.telefonseelsorge.de - if not by phone, then anonymously via chat
➡️ Number against grief (anonymous phone calls, for children, teenagers and young adults, Mon-Sat, 2 p.m.-8 p.m.): Tel. 116 111
➡️ Crisis chat (anonymous on WhatsApp or SMS - around the clock, for everyone under 25 years old): http ://www.krisenchat.de
A film by Gunnar Krupp and Désirée Marie Fehringer
Camera: Gunnar Krupp, Désirée Marie Fehringer, Jan Littelmann
Editing: Claudia Qualmann
Graphics: Felix Schwabe
Editor: Anna Orth
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )