One of the most popular YouTubers is leaving the platform. Lilly Singh said in a vlog posted Monday that she’s taking an unspecified amount of time away from YouTube because she needs to work on her mental health and because she doesn’t understand what kind of content she should be producing.
In a video titled “I’ll see you soon …” the YouTuber with 14.4 million subscribers said she loves the platform and her fans but that she’s burned out from producing so many videos.
“I’m going to be real with you. I am mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted,” she said. “I have been doing YouTube consistently for eight years. … It’s been a lot. I enjoy it. I love it. I know I’m always about hustling and hustling harder. But I’m also about happiness. You should be happy. You should take care of yourself. What kind of person would I be if I preach that but didn’t actually practice it myself?”
Singh said she was scared to take this step, faced with the idea that she could lose relevancy in the YouTube world (ultimately she’s come to the conclusion that her happiness is more important than the potential loss of her relevancy). But she also said she hasn’t been happy with some of her content lately—which could be a reflection of her theory that she’s not exactly sure how she fits into the latest era of YouTube—and she needs to step back for a while. In part, she also needs to focus on her mental health.
“I could be happier,” she said. “I’m not at my optimal happiness right now. I don’t feel I’m completely mentally healthy. There’s a lot going on up here that I need to address and that I’m not able to [by] constantly pumping out content.”
Singh isn’t sure how long she’ll be gone, but she made it clear that she plans to return to YouTube once she gets herself healthier and when “my soul feels ready to do this.”
“I really need this for my sanity and for my happiness,” she said.
Here’s her entire video.