TikTok became a scary place for followers of Gabbie Hanna after the musician and social media personality posted over 100 videos to her account in 24 hours, many of which had people concerned for her mental well-being.
For those unfamiliar with Hanna, she’s no stranger to controversy. Her rise to social media stardom has been pock-marked with contentious debates and gossip ever since her early days on Vine, where she rose to fame.
Once known for her funny videos and larger-than-life personality, she has since become popular for her music, her blunt opinions, and ethereal artistic personality. In 2014 she transitioned over to YouTube where she started her channel, The Gabbie Show, and where she mostly promotes her music. She has over five million subscribers on the platform as of this writing.
Over the years she’s landed in hot water with numerous YouTubers — namely RiceGum, JessiSmiles, and Trisha Paytas, to name just a few — and has since become a controversial figure online.
Now she mostly lives on TikTok where she has over seven and a half million followers. The content she publishes there ranges from cleaning videos and dance videos to sermons on Christian ideology and spiritual orations.
While people have come to expect the unexpected from Hanna, her most recent foray on TikTok has her followers rightfully concerned for her mental health.
Why are people talking about Gabbie Hanna right now?
Anyone who posts over 100 videos to TikTok in less than 24 hours is going to raise red flags. For Hanna, that all began on Aug. 23 when she posted an incoherent video of herself sitting in front of a mirror, crying and begging her followers to believe in themselves and manifest the saving of the world.
Immediately, her followers expressed concerns in the comments section, saying Hanna was going through a manic episode.
Hanna has previously opened up about her battle with mental health, most recently in a video on March 16, 2022 in which she sounded the alarm bells by stating that some days she felt like she could save the world and other days she felt like committing suicide.
During her 24-hour wave of uploads, Hanna responded to one person’s comment “someone help her omg” by posting a video of herself in her bathroom begging for help. In the video, she slams the bathroom sink and shouts “Help me! Help me! Wake the f**k up! Help me help us!”
Her followers continued to express their concern, but Hanna made a video reassuring them that she was okay. In the video she appears to admit to having to having a manic episode, but counters that by saying she’s the “happiest person on the planet” and that she is dancing and making art, and has a housekeeper cleaning her “castle.” One TikTok user commented on the video saying “that’s a sign of a manic episode babe.”
To the relief of many of her followers, Hanna eventually informed people that after “screaming bloody murder in my backyard in the middle of the night” her neighbor called for a wellness check. However, in another video she shared that it was deemed she “did not meet the criteria for hold” and was not taken in.
The concern for her wellbeing escalated after Hanna referred to herself as a “woman in distress” and continued to upload countless TikTok videos.
As of this writing Hanna has not stopped uploading videos in rapid succession. It’s difficult to imagine everything is okay, regardless of how the supposed wellness check turned out. Her followers will no doubt continue to pay close attention to her activity in the coming days and weeks, waiting for some kind of explanation for her out of the ordinary behavior, or reassurance that she is, as she says, truly okay.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental illness, contact the National Association for Mental Illness at 800-950-6264 or text HelpLine to 6240.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message.
A list of international crisis resources can be found here.