Burnout turned Twitch streamers' dreams of playing games full time into nightmares

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/16/ [login to see] /twitch-streamers-burnout-video-games
Stephen Flavall makes his living by playing video games to an audience of thousands on Twitch. When he first started streaming, he only had about fifteen people at a time watching him. He liked how he could engage with a small community, cracking jokes while people cheered him on.

Unfortunately, the vibe changed as his popularity grew.

"Around 200 viewers was when it started getting exhausting," says Flavall. "Now I have like 2,000 viewers [at a time] and when that many people are asking you questions and telling you what to do, it becomes absolutely unmanageable. I started having anxiety, bordering on full panic attacks."

Flavall's gotten to a better place now, but his story isn't unique. Burnout is on the rise across the country, even for those whose work is — quite literally — play.