Normally I don’t talk about these kind of subjects as I find them to be oversensationalised and more viewed for attention rather than wanting actual help but today I thought it would be good to explain what is happening to the streamer Etika and how mental health should be taken in a more serious manner when it comes to online personalities.
Etika (his real name being Desmond Amofah) is a streamer and former Youtube personality who specialised in Nintendo content and having bold and exciting reactions to things such as trailers and game announcements. I enjoyed watching his reaction content due to the obviously huge over-reaction to many things as I found it entertaining but over the past few days things have spiralled out of control for him.
Etika was recently detained by police and given some time to get some mental help due to him threatening suicide and having a complete mental breakdown online. Earlier last year he had started tweeting cryptic messages and also shared with his fans about the idea of suicide. This prompted close friends to come see him but not before he posted hentai porn to his youtube channels to get them intentionally deleted. Recently he once again started more cryptic tweets and his current twitter feed is a mash of gaming references, hentai and gibberish.
Obviously it seems as though Etika is really struggling with some mental health issues. It’s not known if he has struggled with this his whole life or if recent events led him down this path but the main problem with this comes from people who are judging these events as simply a publicity stunt due to his previous content being made for shock content too. This has led to even more hate being thrown at him and I believe it has just made his mental state worsen as people don’t believe he is truly mentally ill. To those that don’t believe this I say to them that even if all of this ranting and raving is fake the fact that he is even willing to seemingly ‘lose it’ for internet fame alone is already a sign of having mental issues if he believes this will truly work and make him famous.
Youtube and online personalities have to face a particularly brutal life if they already struggle with mental health due to how so many people are constantly watching your every move and with a need to improve on your work all the time I don’t blame them having a struggle with reality. It honestly feels as though when someone online has a breakdown people are quicker to judge that it is a publicity stunt rather than them actually needing help and it’s a shame it has come to this. Whatever the outcome of this situation is it’s clear that Etika needs help and I would encourage those who read this to send words of support rather than accusations. Be kind, that’s all I ask.
That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.