YouTuber Oliver Ssaem pauses channel after 10 years, citing emotional exhaustion

Oliver Ssaem (올리버쌤), a YouTuber with about 2.25 million subscribers, said on October 8 that his family is stepping away from YouTube for a long break. He gave the reason as emotional exhaustion. In a long post on his channel, he said a specialist had recently told him that he must stop all work for the time being and that at least six months of treatment and rest were absolutely necessary. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]

"Ten years have passed since we started YouTube," he wrote. He said the family had recently gone through big changes and hardships in a short time, including the sudden loss of his father and a cross-continental move of more than 1,600 km. He said they had believed they could overcome everything, and had recorded this in his recent book American Survival (아메리칸 서바이벌). He said it had been overconfidence to think they had overcome it all, and that the hurt and fatigue built up in himself, his wife and his children ran deeper than expected. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]

He said that, after pushing on without dealing with grief and fatigue, he had reached a state of emotional exhaustion in which his brain and mind seemed to have stopped. He said this made everyday thinking and video production hard to keep up. He said that a long break like this was the first for the family in 10 years and that this left him feeling heavy-hearted and afraid. He said the family had decided that mending themselves was the most fitting course for the family and for viewers in the long run, and that they would focus on recovering for now. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]

The family will hold a scheduled live stream at 11 p.m. Korean time on Friday, October 9 as planned and will then begin the break. The Chosun Ilbo said the stream is to announce winners in connection with Rijonare Guam (리조나레 괌). Oliver Ssaem said he wanted the stream to be a warm farewell to viewers, not a dark occasion, and asked them to wait for the family to return healthier. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

Newsis and Maeil Business describe Oliver Ssaem as American. Seoul Shinmun and Maeil Business say he worked as an English teacher in Korea. The outlets say his channel became popular with content on English, American culture, differences between Korean and American culture, and family life. Newsis said he started YouTube in 2015. Maeil Business gave his real name as 올리버 샨 그랜트. He married a Korean woman in 2016, and they have two daughters. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]