YouTube burnout is real. Creators are struggling to cope
New York (CNN Business)For eight years, Kati Morton, a mental health expert, has used YouTube to discuss sensitive issues ranging from eating disorders to anxiety. But Morton's own well-being took a hit from the demands of her work on the platform.
At one point, she was uploading videos five times per week while maintaining her day job as a therapist. When balancing the two became too tiring, the 36-year-old quit her job to focus on YouTube full time (though she still has a small private practice). That helped for awhile, but then the exhaustion came back. She felt irritable, tearful and on edge -- all of which she realized were signs she wasn't taking care of herself.
"I had written my first book, and I was still uploading two videos a week at this time," Morton, who has 830,000 YouTube subscribers, told CNN Business. "My therapist was like, 'You need a vacation, like a real vacation.'"
In January 2018, she decided to take a one-month break from YouTube. She spent it at her mother's house watching movies, relaxing and sleeping.
Over the past few years, creators have started openly discussing feeling burnt out, which often comes from the pressure to constantly churn out new videos for their thousands -- sometimes millions -- of fans. PewDiePie, a controversial but incredibly popular star on YouTube with more than 100 million subscribers, said over the weekend that he will be taking a break from the platform. "I'm tired," he said in a video. "I'm feeling very tired."
Last month, YouTube creator Alex Wassabi told his 11.5 million subscribers that he would take a week off. "Recently, I have not been happy. I've been sad, confused, flustered," he said in a video. "But most of all, burnt out." He now uploads two videos a week rather than three as he did before.