YouTube/Laina
- Laina Morris, who became famous after sparking the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme, has announced she is quitting YouTube.
- In a 30-minute goodbye video, Morris explained that she’s been struggling with her mental health over the past year, experiencing depression and anxiety.
- Morris also thanked her fans for supporting and believing in her.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Laina Morris, the 28-year-old origin of the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme, announced on Thursday that she is quitting YouTube, the platform that led to her viral stardom about seven years ago.
In 2012, Morris took part in a contest held by Justin Bieber, who was looking for someone to create a "Girlfriend" song to go with his hit single called "Boyfriend." Morris’ submission, a 3-minute parody video of "Boyfriend" called "Girlfriend," portrayed Morris as a super-committed, super-jealous girlfriend. The video resonated because of its funny lyrics, but also because Morris sang most of her 3-minute song without blinking, staring into the camera the entire time.
Morris’ "Girlfriend" video went viral, attracting millions of viewers and sparking the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme, where people would post Morris’ picture and add funny captions that describe what an overly attached girlfriend would do.
KnowYourMeme
Laina filmed more parody videos over the years, and appeared as a guest in many other YouTube videos. She was also featured in a video from Delta Air Lines and interviewed celebrities on the red carpet at the 2012 American Music Awards. She’s also appeared on the Nerdist podcast with Chris Hardwick and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."
During the peak of her YouTubing days, Morris posted videos about once a week. But Morris stopped posting after August 2017. She uploaded one more video in August 2018, and on Thursday, posted her final video.
Read more: The Overly-Attached Girlfriend explains what it’s like being a wildly popular Internet meme
In her 30-minute farewell, Morris explained that she’s been struggling with anxiety and depression, and has seen a psychologist and taken medication to help her mental health. She said seeing others in the media, like actress Kristen Bell, really helped her accept her own situation.
"It’s really important to me that with this video, I do mention my experience and let you know that depression is hard, and it hurts, and it can make you feel crazy, and it can make you feel very alone," she said. "It can make you feel like you will never fully get better, because there are highs and lows — and the lows are so low. But when you’re feeling good, it can be really scary because you don’t know how long that feeling will last. When you start to feel bad again, it can be scary because you thought you’d gotten over it. I get it, I know how hard it is."
Morris also used her video to encourage anyone struggling with mental-health issues, like anxiety or depression, to reach out for help, and to accept yourself through the process because "at the end of the day, you’re alone with you and your own thoughts, and you need to love yourself."
You can watch Morris’ full video below.
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Source: Business Insider – dsmith@businessinsider.com (Dave Smith)