File: Live streaming mental health 101.
Live streaming is a very competitive and stressful endeavor. For hours on end, content creators often talk to themselves, to visitors in chat, and even to co-hosts that require the star’s attention and wit. Add that to the stress of keeping the masses entertained, and the financial burden that comes with depending on one’s ability to be continuously engaging, and the stressors can begin to take a toll on full-time streamers.
In this article, we’ll discuss live streaming mental health and offer a few tips and tricks to ensure your mind and body remain optimal while you’re on the grind.
Related: Yes, You Should Use A Twitch Closed Captions Extension in 2023
Table of Contents
Live streaming mental health tips and tricks
Create content that you enjoy
In one of our interviews with a popular live streamer, the creator commented that he was concerned his favorite game may fall out of favor at some point and, if and when that happened, the ride may come to an end, which was very stressful to ponder. This is a concern many live streamers have.
Why?
Because if you don’t love what you do it makes the work all the more difficult and aggravating. This particular streamer was ahead of the game in a sense, though, as he added that, if the ride is over, then it’s just over, “I won’t play a game I don’t enjoy, the business is hard enough already,” he said.
It’s a great tip. Given that live streaming mental health can be so difficult to manage with the need to build a great Twitch landing page, stream on a schedule, always be engaging (ABE), and adhere to ever-evolving rules on Twitch and YouTube, it makes sense to make the part you need to run on auto-pilot fun.
Really: Imagine playing a game you hate and maintaining a chippy upbeat attitude the entire time to an audience that may or may not give you a hand along the way via interaction in chat or gameplay. Is there a better definition of hell?
Stick to doing what you love because if you don’t, not only will your mental health take a toll, your audience will too.
Give it a rest
There’s a specific type of anxiety live streamers face when they’re forced to hop offline or break their schedule. Will viewers find someone else? What if they never come back? Live streamers bank on audience engagement because without it, the prospects of turning a passion project into income are slim to none.
Who wants to walk away from an audience that was hard fought to build?
However, the truth is, refusing to take a break can have a much more detrimental effect: burnout and a collapse of your live streaming mental health. The simple fact is; everyone needs a breather.
It’s true, some viewers may move on to the next channel, but it’s more important to protect your mind and body than succumb to the stressors associated with burnout (we also face this as writers with multiple websites).
At the end of the day, though, along the way you’ve built up resilience and have learned how to bounce back. Trust your abilities to build and maintain a community. Whatever got you here will keep you here.
Don’t fret over a week off here and there, whatever you’ve done right in the past you’ll do again, perhaps even better. Avoid burnout by taking breaks on a regular basis and trust your skills and abilities to replace viewers you may have lost.
It may surprise you just how resilient you’ve become. If you’re not convinced, take a look at our channel – we stream when we can, no stress, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Find someone you trust to talk to
When we talk about live streaming mental health, we can’t help but point out an obvious problem: you’re talking to everyone else all day!
Unfortunately, you’re in the business of entertaining, and talking about a breakup or personal financial problems just isn’t that engaging – but the issues still exist.
As someone who has worked in the music business, government, and content creation business, I understand (as does everyone at STW) how difficult it is to maintain a cool and collective persona 24 hours a day. After all, the product you’re selling is you, and that means selling the best version of YOU.
But no one is perfect, no matter what you or your parents have told you. Everyone needs downtime and a shoulder to lean on. Find someone you trust to talk to about your stressors and worries, even if it is just a personal friend (who is not financially associated with your work). If you feel the need to engage a therapist then do it; live streaming mental health issues are nothing to be ashamed of – it’s a stressful business.
Detach yourself from the zeitgeist
There’s nothing worse than getting negative feedback, with one exception: negative feedback constantly. In an interview with Bill Maher on April 28, 2023, Elon Musk labeled negative feedback as “high user engagement,” which is great for Twitter, but it can be detrimental to small streamers who are trying to build a community.
Still, you can’t control what others think or say, so why stress over it? And while a negative post going viral about your channel or persona is every streamer’s worst nightmare, perhaps there is some silver lining in the fact that you’re being talked about at all.
Here at STW, we don’t even engage in negativity anymore. Our motto is: be consistent, ignore the noise, and focus on the content; the rest will come.
Unplug from social media as often as you can, for your own sanity.
Become a lifelong learner
Live streaming mental health issues aren’t limited to the star of the show. Everyone in the business is pushing for an edge. Here at STW, our team is built with technologists and advocates who have a genuine interest in live streaming because of its potential over the next decade. We have other hobbies and objectives associated with businesses we’ve already built; live streaming is another way for us to stay sharp in our professions and continuously learn new things.
Likewise, professional live streamers would do wonders for their mental health if they adopted a lifelong learning motto. Keeping your skills sharp will ensure your mind is open to new opportunities to build on your community and identify additional revenue streams.
Personally, I can attest to this fact: every skill I’ve ever learned, whether it was relevant at the time or not, has always seemed to come in handy just when I needed it. For example, learning how to create accessible content just for fun and finding out six months later that it was a requirement for a job.
Keep your skills sharp and look for ways to broaden your horizon. Not only will it help you progress in your career, but it will also take your mind off the limitations and threats you perceive on a daily basis. “I’m not worried about my audience today, I’m learning how to add closed captions to a live stream and create accessible social content, which could lead to a very specific type of marketing career in the future.”
In other words, become a lifelong learner to find the silver lining in the clouds.
Final words on live streaming mental health
Live streaming mental health issues go hand-in-hand with longevity and success and, if you ignore the need to unplug or learn something new, or engage in activities you don’t enjoy, the chances are your live streaming career will be short and frustrating. Keep a positive mindset and follow these tips to improve your ability to remain resilient in the face of adversity.