Health

Mental Health Awareness

May 23, 2022September 20, 2022 by missbriannamarie

May is mental health awareness month. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in the U.S. since 1949. Moreover, did you know that 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year, and less than half of them receive treatment? The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years and 55% of U.S. counties do not have a single practicing psychiatrist. That is concerning.

But, if we dive deeper into the world of content creation or heck anything to do with being creative it is even more shocking. Adobe defines a content creator as someone who creates entertaining or educational material to be expressed through any medium or channel. For example social media, blogs, podcasts, video platforms, infographics, and more. So why are we talking about mental health and content creators? Well, it is because it needs to be talked about more.

According to Vibely’s recent Creator Burnout Report, 90% of creators say they’ve experienced burnout, and 71% say they’ve considered quitting social media and, in turn, the business they worked so hard to build.

We have to remember that creators are also real humans and they are not perfect, despite what their content displays. Many famous YouTubers have spoken out on the mental effects of the industry: including Alisha Marie who has over 11M on YouTube.

“10 years ago, I would easily pull all-nighters because I was so excited to edit a video I just created. But fast-forward 10 years of doing that, and you’ve slowly fallen out of love with it… It was a rude awakening for me.”

and Casey Neistat who made a whole video titled: The Pressure of being a YouTuber.

The Causes of Creator Burnout are as followed:

Changes To Algorithm

Making A Living

Follower Count Anxieties

According to Sprout Social Blog : “Social media algorithms are a way of sorting posts in a user’s feed based on relevancy instead of publishing time.”

By default, social media algorithms are the ones responsible for selecting what kind of posts you see on social media based on your other interactions. But if you look at the same content consistently you may never be presented with new content. Thus, not seeing anything new and connecting with others. A creator is reliant on the guidelines laid out by social media because even minor algorithm transformations or shadow bans create downward outcomes that derail content processes, day-to-day functions, payment, and general wellbeing.

Making A Living

While any career can be stressful, it can be intense when your job includes social media. Paying bills may mean nightly, hours-long streams or constantly thinking about what to post to retain their online presence. One night off could mean a decrease in pay. That can be tiring, having to keep others engaged on a rigorous schedule.

Follower Count Anxieties

Once an influencer gets a considerable number of followers, they may feel restrained as to what they can publish. You now know you have a lot of people consuming your content, which can produce symptoms of anxiety. You want to keep the numbers you earned so you are pressured to keep posting content that pleases your audience which may not be the content you like making.

While Creating content online may look easy and is done effortlessly, we cannot forget that creators are real people too. In fact, I did an entire podcast episode on this topic as well so be sure to check that out here as well as all the links below!

I also highly recommend checking out ShePersisted which is a podcast run by a girl named Sadie. Sadie is a 19 year old content creator who received a year and a half of intensive treatment for severe depression and anxiety, she was inspired to share her story with fellow teens going through their own personal growth through her podcast and other platforms