A popular video game streamer named SweeetTails disappeared for a while recently despite being more popular than ever. The streamer was on a real roll, with more than 200k followers on Instagram, and half a million on Twitch. She left without notice and went silent for months, until she provided fans with an update in Sept. of 2023. So what happened? She had to deal with some very serious health issues.
In a post dated Sept. 1, she said she hadn’t been around for the last five months because she was dealing with “mental and physical health problems which has lead me to not being able to work/stream.” She said her problems had her “struggling more” than she ever had in her entire life, and that was “terrifying.”
“Every day is a battle that sometimes I just don’t want to fight. I’ve never experienced anything like this before and it breaks my ****ing heart the thing I loved doing the most, which was creating content and streaming for you all, is something I’m not able to do right now.”
While she was gone, she said people assumed she was on “vacation” or “enjoying life,” but she pushed back against that notion, saying that she was only “surviving” and that some days she couldn’t even get out of bed. She warned people that “this industry will tear you apart” if you ignore your health. She closed with this sentiment: “make the time and take care of yourself. Get the help you need. Take breaks, nourish your body and mind, and never take life for granted.” As of this writing, it’s not clear whether she’s ever revealed a specific diagnosis or condition she struggles with, and nobody seems to have publicly violated her medical privacy.
On June 28, she tweeted that she was “finally feeling like” herself again both during streams and also not during streams. “Thank you all for your patience and continuing to watch,” she said. June 30 was extra encouraging: “INSANE STREAM, IM BACK BABY. FEELS SO GOOOOOD!!”
Her journey has obviously been fraught with ups and downs. Despite some good days, she hadn’t really returned to her former prolific glory, something she explained on July 5, when she gave another update. That post built on the last one and provided its own insight into her condition.
“If you complain because I only streamed two hours today, literally bye. I just came back from taking a year off from being physically and mentally sick. I’m still working on getting back to being able to do long streams.”
She went on to say that she’s trying to get back to her typical output, but that she gets tired and light headed if she pushes herself too hard. “I’m doing the best I can,” she said, “so your comments are not necessary.” She also said that it was “ok” to be sad, and that her comments were directed at people who were trying to tell her what to do.
Her fans have been supportive the whole time. For example, back in Sept. TyyRex said: “Love you so much, Tails. I hope you know how strong you are and taking the time off to take care of yourself is what’s most important right now. This community will be eagerly waiting for you to come back! We’re not going anywhere!”
An X user named Winnie called Tails “an inspiration to so many and what you’ve built is absolutely legendary. We are not going anywhere no matter how long it takes. We have your back like you’ve had ours. And Thank you for sharing this. This industry is freaking brutal.”
Comments on her July 5 post were just as encouraging. Darkmage4 Productions said that the streamer’s mental and physical health was “always important” and that “people need to get over it! Glad you’re doing good though! People need to get a grip. Content creators are not robots.”
Fellow content creator ItsmeLVCA said “People don’t realise the energy that goes into streaming, let alone being a high energy entertainer. Keep putting yourself first because that’s more important.”
Regardless, SweeetTails has still been busy creating content. Lately she’s been streaming the hit horror game Poppy Playtime. In a recent video, she was energetic and her usual bubbly self, with her high octane performative likability that honestly would take a lot out of anyone.
It is abundantly clear that SweeetTails works incredibly hard to continue to provide content to all social media platforms, including TikTok, where she has more than 2.8 million followers and over 90 million likes.
Published: Jul 16, 2024 02:16 pm