Jake Paul has responded to the backlash he received after suggesting that anxiety is "created" by the person who's experiencing it.
The YouTuber took to Twitter on Monday and opened up about mental health, saying in a since-deleted tweet: "Remember anxiety is created by you."
"Sometimes you gotta let life play out and remind yourself to be happy and that the answer will come," he continued. "Chill your mind out. Go for a walk. Talk to a friend."
However, the tweet stirred up a lot of criticism, with people calling the comment "really harmful" and a "privileged take".
@jakepaul 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.
@jakepaul Not everybody has friends or people they can talk to or trust. Especially disabled people who society often isolates. This is a very privileged take.
@jakepaul I hate if this is an attempt at being wholesome because while I hope your heart is in the right place it’s worded so badly & just comes off worse than it does good. Anxiety is a disease, lots of people need prescriptions to even function in society w/ it including myself. 🤓🤟
Others tried to defend the YouTuber before he eventually deleted the original tweet.
SO while I think that he should do more research before speaking out about mental health, we also need to acknowledge that there are some people who find this tweet helpful. If this sentiment doesn’t apply to you, let it fly. Let it go.
But now, Jake has taken to Twitter once again and responded to the backlash, opening up about his own mental health struggles and pointing out that he's "spreading more awareness".
He then directed followers to a link that gave more advice on "how to cope with anxiety".
everyone clowning my tweet but it’s now spreading more awareness about anxiety which i didn’t even know was a thing till I was 18 but had it my whole life & never knew how to deal with it🤷🏼♂️ if u think u have it or wanna deal with it try reading this👇🏼 https://t.co/orknebThfw
However, some weren't happy with Jake saying that people were "clowning" his original statement, calling the original tweet "invalidating and shortsighted".
@jakepaul 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. You should delete it.
@jakepaul ur tweet spread bAD info about anxiety bc it can stop people from getting help when it’s needed thinking they can just walk it off and chill :/ it was also a lil insulting to those who deal with it. those “clowning” r the ones providing good info. Just say my bad n move on 😭