Twitch streamer Ohlana has died at age 26 by an apparent suicide. Before her death, Ohlana had been candid about her mental health, sharing her struggle with depression.
Ohlana had a varied streaming career, playing several different games as well as hosting non-gaming streams. She was known for playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and more recently Valorant, as well as streaming chat sessions and sharing her travels in IRL streams. Ohlana had been a popular streamer on Twitch for several years and had an audience of more than 100,000 viewers. Ohlana’s passing marks the third-high profile Twitch streamer to die in the past week. In recent days, news that World of Warcraft streamer Reckful had also died by suicide came out, followed just days later by the death of GTA Online roleplay streamer Blue622. Like Ohlana, both were eulogized by their communities and commemorated for their kindness to the people in their lives both online and off.
Ohlana’s death was reported by Dexerto, with Shacknews reporting that it was confirmed by people she knew personally on her private Discord server. In the days before her death, Ohlana posted a series of concerning messages about her mental health on Twitter, culminating in the message “it’s not anybody’s fault” on July 6th. The day before, she spoke more generally about depression, lamenting that depressed people “struggle to reach out” for fear of loved ones responding by calling the police and leading to their confinement. Also on July 6th, Ohlana shared a final message on Instagram reminiscing about better times and ending with the message to her friends, “It’s a beautiful day today. Go out and enjoy it for me.”
In the wake of Ohlana’s passing, tributes have poured in from her fans, celebrating her life and mourning her death on Twitter. Many of the messages highlight Ohlana’s ability to help others and lift their moods, thanking her for being a good friend and saying that she will be missed. Friend and fellow streamer D34NER posed a message thanking her for welcoming him into her community and caring for him, ending the message by saying, “Thank you for being you.”
Streaming on Twitch can often seem like a glamorous and social career, but the truth is that the pressures of maintaining an active presence and dealing with the sometimes unpleasant streaming environment can exacerbate mental health issues. There is always cause for online communities to be kinder to one another, but in the wake of Ohlana’s passing, that need should be more apparent than ever.
If you or someone else is struggling with thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 in the U.S. or the Samaritans at 116 123 in the U.K.
Source: ohlana/Twitter, Dexerto, Shacknews, itsD34NER/Twitter