How Elyse Myers became the biggest mental health advocate on TikTok Elyse MyersElyse Myers\u2019 viral content on TikTok has cemented her position as the biggest mental health advocate on the platform \u2014 and she is ramping up those discussions for Mental Health Awareness month. With over 4.6 million followers on TikTok, Elyse Myers is one of the most popular content creators on the short-form video app. Taking inspiration from comedians like Nate Bargatze, Chris Farley, and Martin Shore, Elyse has formed her own unique style of storytelling. While her videos span a variety of topics, one of the greatest things she\u2019s gained popularity for is her focus on making mental health conversations \u201cas normal as talking about the weather.\u201d For Mental Health Awareness month, we were able to sit down with Elyse Myers, who revealed how she juggles her mental health as one of TikTok\u2019s biggest mental health advocates, as well as what inspired her to begin creating such content. Elyse told us: \u201cI have always wanted to be able to talk about someone freely about my mental health and not have it be weird. I grew up in a neighborhood and community where it wasn\u2019t always okay, it was embarrassing and a little bit shameful. It just wasn\u2019t something you talked about. \u201cI found that to be so incredibly isolating because the things I struggle with today were very much still a thing when I was younger, I just couldn\u2019t talk about it and I didn\u2019t know how to ask for help. When I did, it was very much a \u2018wash your face and move on\u2019 type of thing,\u201d she added. \u201cI just remembered as a kid thinking that it would be so much easier if I could just talk about it and move on with my life. I felt like the only person that ever dealt with anxiety and panic attacks.\u201d Elyse\u2019s goal is to make it so nobody believes it is an off-limits topic in their life and wants to see it become as normal as sharing what you had for lunch. Elyse Myers\u2019 own struggles with mental health as a TikToker The creator has been open about her struggles with anxiety, ADHD, and being an introvert in her videos. This creates a situation where she must balance her own mental health while also being available to her dedicated community\u2026 It\u2019s not so easy. When it comes to her follower count, the TikToker revealed that due to gaining popularity during the global health situation, it still doesn\u2019t feel real. \u201cThere\u2019s not been a lot of time where I\u2019ve been face to face with this following that I\u2019ve found and these people who are consuming my content regularly,\u201d Elyse told us. \u201cSo in some ways, it\u2019s like those numbers arent real in a funny way. Those numbers don\u2019t make sense to my brain, it cant understand that millions of people are watching what I say and are taking it to heart.\u201d (Click here if TikTok doesn\u2019t load) https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@elysemyers\/video\/7093928124387331374?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=6916636174712325638 She added: \u201cIn some ways, it doesn\u2019t affect it at all because I\u2019m so removed from the realness of the people. But then in other ways, it\u2019s the coolest and hardest thing for your mental health. \u201cWhen you are faced with the reality of how many people are watching you every day, being an introvert with social and regular anxiety, it can be really overwhelming.\u201d Even though it can be overwhelming, Elyse made sure it was clear that she loves what she provides on TikTok. Read More: Faith Ordway interview – She explained: \u201cIt\u2019s such an honor, it really is, and I don\u2019t take it lightly. I\u2019m just kind of figuring it out but it can feel really overwhelming. I\u2019m nervous to say the wrong thing, nervous to not represent someone well, to not do right by someone or make them proud by this space and that\u2019s all I want. I want to add value to people\u2019s life.\u201d (Click here if TikTok doesn\u2019t load) https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@elysemyers\/video\/7090877008707587371?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=6916636174712325638 \u201cIt can feel really heavy sometimes for me to not want to do the wrong thing and just do right by people. In that kind of way, it does take a toll and it takes me checking in with myself, my husband, my therapist, journaling, and all the things that people do to stay mentally healthy,\u201d she added. \u201cI have to make sure I stay on top of those because everything I do is so public, I can\u2019t afford to not take care of myself first because there are so many people relying on me to be here. To keep encouraging, to keep creating content that makes them laugh and make their day lighter, and be their friend.\u201d Her biggest struggle with \u2018fame\u2019 There are also two big struggles she\u2019s faced becoming a creator with such a large fan base. \u201cIt\u2019s so cool though because it allows me to have an opportunity to connect with people in a way that I can\u2019t offline. But, I\u2019ve always been someone that struggles with social interactions. Just the day-to-day is hard. Now to have a face with a full style that people recognize and people come up to me in public, that\u2019s something I never thought I would have to deal with. \u201cI\u2019ve learned how to just ask for patience and be like \u2018You know, my son is melting down. I wish I could connect more, but I can\u2019t, I\u2019m so sorry but thank you so much for your support.\u2019 I\u2019m learning that I can\u2019t give everything to everybody all of the time, I won\u2019t have anything left for my family. If we\u2019re not good, nothing is good. \u201c (Click here if TikTok doesn\u2019t load) https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@elysemyers\/video\/7091846920791952683?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=6916636174712325638 Another challenge has been her mission to level up the content she produces, in fear of their fanbase losing interest \u2013 a feeling that will resonate with even the top streamers and TikTokers. She said: \u201cI struggle with comparing myself to myself almost to my detriment. Being a content creator and putting stuff out every day, with my anxiety I can feel like I\u2019m always behind, I\u2019m not doing enough, I\u2019m not giving enough, and I need to do more. \u201cBecause my life is so public, I\u2019m scared I\u2019m going to lose people\u2019s favor. I get fearful that I\u2019m going to get boring to people but that\u2019s just fear, it\u2019s not reality. I\u2019d rather not burn out, so I need to not believe those intrusive thoughts.\u201d Elyse Myers shares advice for TikTok success Elyse also had a few words of advice for aspiring content creators to help with their mental health struggles, which she was elated to share. \u201cDon\u2019t feel like you have to alter yourself or your content or your story to be more digestible for people. You don\u2019t owe anybody that kind of edit and power over your life,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe more you can actually talk about things that are happening in your life, the more you can create content that is truthful and honest and something that you\u2019re passionate about, and the more you can create from an authentic place \u2014 the more joy you are going to find in it, and the less you\u2019re going to burn out. The more you\u2019re gonna find yourself accepting who you are, the more you\u2019re gonna fall in love with who you are in your life.\u201d Some of the biggest struggles in content creation involve mental health, whether it be just a day of feeling like you\u2019re not worth it or not doing enough, or more long-term thoughts. This writer has had his fair share of struggles with mental health throughout the years as well, and one of the best things he\u2019s ever done was to begin talking about it \u2014 just like Elyse Myers does to over four million people. For Mental Health Awareness Month 2022, let\u2019s work together to make talking about mental health just as normal as sharing the weather forecast or telling a friend what you had for lunch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How Elyse Myers became the biggest mental health advocate on TikTok Elyse MyersElyse Myers\u2019 viral content on TikTok has cemented her position as the biggest mental health advocate on the platform \u2014 and she is ramping up those discussions for Mental Health Awareness month. With over 4.6 million followers on TikTok, Elyse Myers is one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}