Why YouTubers are feeling the burn

From fashionistas to popular scientists, YouTube's top video stars are crumbling under the relentless pressure of producing new content for the site

When Lucy Moon sat down with her therapist to discuss why she was feeling so low, she was on top of the world. A burgeoning career as a YouTuber was in mid-bloom: her subscriber count - an important metric on the site, and a sign of a creator's popularity - was booming, and offers of work and brand tie-ins were rolling in. But all was not well. She wasn't happy. The workload was rising; the pressure to be perfect in front of the camera was crushing. And the therapist was shocked.

"She was like: 'I cannot believe you think this is normal, to be running this kind of operation for the first time with no career support,'" says Moon, a 23-year-old beauty-and-lifestyle YouTuber with more than 319,000 subscribers. "I meet so many YouTubers who say that."