Once again, Jake Paul is in the midst of some major social media drama. On Monday, February 17, the YouTuber took to Twitter and told his 3.7 million followers in a since-deleted tweet that “Anxiety is created by you.”
“Remember anxiety is created by you. Sometimes you gotta let life play out and remind yourself to be happy & that the answers will come. Chill your mind out. Go for a walk. Talk to a friend,” the 23-year-old wrote.
Jake quickly received backlash for his “harmful” post that “downplayed” anxiety. One fan wrote, “This is actually really harmful. Anxiety can be incredibly physical as well as mental. Mental illness is not the fault of the sufferer. Please delete this, you are doing actual harm to your followers who very well may need to be seeking professional help for their problems.”
Others responded with sarcastic remarks, clapping back at the internet star.
“Jake Paul cured my anxiety!!!!! I went out for a walk, chilled my mind and talked to a friend and suddenly I didn’t feel the sinking feeling in my chest anymore! I didn’t feel my heartbeat raising and my palms getting sweaty for no reason!! Be my therapist Jakey xoxo,” another person said.
Jake later attempted to defend his original tweet. He claimed that he just wanted to spread the word about anxiety.
“Everyone clowning my tweet but it’s now spreading more awareness about anxiety which I didn’t even know was a thing ’til I was 18 but had it my whole life & never knew how to deal with it,” he explained. “If you think you have it or wanna deal with it try reading this.”
He also linked an article so followers could read about how to cope with their anxiety.
Fans also criticized this post.
“Nobody is ‘clowning’ on your tweet. Your tweet is dangerous to your young impressionable audience. Anxiety is bad enough as it is, but now you’re trying to make it seem like its our fault that we feel anxious. It’s just so invalidating and shortsighted,” a Twitter user said.
“Being anxious and having anxiety are not the same. Drinking water and going for a walk are things for people who are stressed or nervous not people who have to live with anxiety disorder,” another person wrote.
Jake has since taken down his initial tweet following fan backlash, but not the second post.
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