YouTuber and Kick streamer Fousey reveals he tried to take his own life after last year's mental breakdown

YouTube personality Yousef "Fousey" has made a string of posts on his official X account almost a year after he was detained by authorities for having a mental breakdown on a Kick livestream in August 2023. In the posts, he revealed that he has been battling depression for quite some time.

Fousey's career in content creation had taken a backseat after the aforementioned mental episode forced him to be hospitalized. The streamer took a hiatus from social media and had minimal online presence for quite a few months.

Note: Mention of suicide and depression. Reader's discretion is advised.

In a series of posts on X on June 3, 2024, Fousey announced that he has been dealing with a lot of mental health issues since the August 2023 incident, including having suicidal thoughts and feeling trapped in his mind. He wrote:

"Ever since the live streaming incident last year that changed everything (again), I have been suffering deeply, and I don't know how to escape this pain. Every day, I feel trapped in my own mind, suffocating, and battling suicidal thoughts."

The Kick star also said he had tried to take his own life and that he now feels like a "dead man walking":

"I even attempted to take my own life this year and failed. Now, I feel like a dead man walking—emotionless, empty, and stuck in a cycle of despair."

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"Our battles might be invisible to others": Fousey talks about battling mental depression

Fousey is a popular YouTuber-turned-live streamer who joined Kick in August 2023 after getting banned from Twitch. During one of his broadcasts, the police had to be called to a hotel room where he was staying because he had a mental breakdown.

TMZ reports suggest that he was hospitalized soon after. He all but disappeared from streaming circles before making a surprise appearance on Adin Ross' stream in November 2023.

In January 2024, the content creator released a video on his main YouTube channel titled The KING is Back! - Kick/Fousey. He streamed for a couple of days that month, but according to Streams Charts, his last broadcast was on January 11, 2024.

On June 3, 2024, Fousey opened up about why he took a break from content creation. In three long posts, the Kick streamer detailed how isolated he has been feeling since the mental episode. He added that he has stopped enjoying life because of his suicidal thoughts:

"I could be with anyone in the world and I would sit there staring blankly with nothing to say. I am empty, emotionless, despondent, numb. Even at a recent family wedding, where I should have felt joy dancing with my mom, I was consumed by thoughts of ending my life."

The streamer also revealed that he has not "naturally slept" since 2022:

"One night that year, I woke up at 2 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep. I went 9 days without sleep. Now, without pharmaceutical sleep aids, I don't get a second of sleep."

Mentioning how "stuck" and "paralyzed" he feels mentally, the YouTuber announced that he wants to be a motivational speaker because he knows he is not alone:

"The irony, I know. I feel like if I can get through this challenge, I can devote my life and purpose to helping people who go through the same struggles."

However, he also noted that he is not sure how to help himself:

"I’m stuck in this victim mentality. I am stuck accepting this reality. But I swear I cannot control my thoughts or what they’re making me believe. I’m drowning. I am dead but alive. I need help and don’t know how to help myself."

In the third X post, Fousey talked about being a Palestinian-American and addressed the conflict in the Middle East. He concluded his thoughts by lending support to anyone else feeling depressed, writing:

"To anyone reading this who might be feeling the same way, know that you’re not alone. Our battles might be invisible to others, but they are real and they are hard. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that survival is an act of courage. Every day you choose to stay is a victory in itself."

It is unclear whether Fousey will start streaming again soon, but his fans have flooded his comments with messages of support, with many telling their own stories about battling depression.