Content advisory: The following article includes descriptions of drug and alcohol abuse, and may be triggering for readers who suffer from or have personal trauma as a result of another’s addiction.
At some point or another, any early-day YouTube aficionado has come across Drew Monson, also known as mytoecold. Popularized for his comedy skits amid a clamor of idiosyncratic vlogs and videos, Monson became an indispensable figure in the YouTube scene in 2013. Although his videos date back to 2008, Monson rose to fame when he partnered with large-scale YouTubers like Shane Dawson, Trisha Paytas, Garrett Watts, and Christine Sydelko, gathering a large following of fans who slowly got to know Monson for his dark humor and yet comforting persona.
Born in Modesto, California, Monson moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams as a rising star in the YouTube stratosphere — the 2010s equivalent of modern-day influencers. Almost inexplicably, Monson receded from Dawson’s spotlight and earned his independence from the controversial figure. Aiming to work his way to the top with some of his closest friends, Monson slowly but surely gained an arsenal of loyal fans who tuned in for every video. Despite this devoted fanbase, however, his videos appeared less regularly, and his absence from previously-scheduled events became more prevalent.
After nearly a year’s absence from his primary source of income, Monson returned to his YouTube roots with a new video addressing all the reasons that have kept the creator away from the limelight. In the more than an hour-long video, the musician shared all of the struggles he’s been working on overcoming for the past years, and here’s what happened.
Why did Drew Monson stop posting on YouTube?
After over a decade on YouTube, Monson admitted that he had been struggling with alcohol addiction and drug abuse for the past few years. Monson’s return to YouTube went for the jugular in a candid video imprinted by his ingenious storytelling, as he shared his struggles with substance abuse and how it kept him away from posting on YouTube.
In usual Monson fashion, the musician shared his innermost thoughts about his mental health issues, without romanticizing any of his experiences, while still maintaining a humorous approach. Despite the brutal candor, he touched on all of these subjects with a hint of sarcasm, irony, and of course, a fair share of Spongebob jokes to lighten the undoubtedly dark mood. According to the YouTuber, his trajectory of substance abuse went from sleeping pills, to prescribed drugs for his mental health, which then led to his alcohol abuse.
Throughout this entire exposé of his intimate and private life for all prying eyes to see, Monson also touched upon his own self-worth and how his addiction came into play with his past mental health diagnoses. During his time struggling with this ongoing disease, Monson shared his continuous fears that he wasn’t addicted enough to be called an addict, or that his addiction would not be justifiable unless it involved some hard substance. Still, he proved that honesty goes a long way to finding peace within oneself.
Drew Monson’s struggles with substance abuse
Monson starts by explaining that his substance abuse dated back to his first moments in Los Angeles, when he started struggling with insomnia. He admits adamant opposition to trying anything related to even a drop of alcohol or sleeping pills, yet the YouTuber’s nightly issues won over his fear of drugs. This course of action led him to try sleeping pills, thus starting his spiral into addiction. Over time, he experimented with medical marijuana, while awaiting prescriptions for anxiety, depression, and (apparently wrongly diagnosed) ADHD.
His increasingly worrying substance abuse led to his friends becoming involved in Monson’s decision-making process. After what was ultimately an intervention, the YouTuber went to rehab for the first and only time, where he became clean from his addiction to pills. Unfortunately, that would only last for a few months before he turned to a new addiction once the pandemic started: alcohol. In what he describes as the worst of his addictions, for nearly a year, Monson was dependent on alcohol, despite never touching alcohol until he reached his 20s.
“Alcohol sucks. It’s the worst one. I haven’t tried all of [the drugs] but I’m pretty sure it’s the worst one as far as like, what you get versus what happens to your body, mind, and soul. It is just pure evil. You rarely hear people defending it. If you talk down to weed, there’s gonna be some people that are mad at you, but if you say ‘alcohol sucks,’ no one bats an eye. Everyone is like ‘Yes.’ The drinkers, the non-drinkers, everyone just looks at you and goes ‘Yes, it does.'”
In the final portion of the video, Monson shared that his most recent struggle with addiction came not long after he sobered up from alcohol, after countless visits to the E.R. Monson experimented with marijuana once again, which he says led him to a short-lived addiction to Benzodiazepines; recognizing this proved an enlightening moment, leading to his decision to become clean only after a few months of use. Moreover, during this time, Monson also developed a binge eating habit, which he described as being the addiction that “tastes the best.”
Is Drew Monson coming back to YouTube?
At the time of writing, Monson has been forthcoming about his desire to return to YouTube. Although his constant back-and-forth substance addictions have kept him from maintaining a regular and steady posting schedule, Monson admits to having been clean for half a year, in hopes that he will remain clean for as long as humanly possible. Naturally, addiction is a fickle disease, with its unpredictability resulting in an uncertain future.
Nonetheless, despite all of his past struggles, including his own introspection and search for self-worth amidst his addiction, Monson appears encouraged to leave his past behind, and WGTC hopes for nothing but the best for him in his return.