When Emma Chamberlain posts a selfie or YouTube video, there’s a good chance it will be in reference to a “mental breakdown.”
“So basically, I had a mental breakdown yesterday, let’s just keep it plain and simple,” the YouTuber and social media star says in a September YouTube video titled “RECOVERING FROM A MELTDOWN LOL.”
“The reasoning for my mental breakdown was basically I just have really, really bad anxiety.” A few months later, Chamberlain posted crying selfies on Instagram. “Yes i like taking selfie after i cry. who cares,” the caption read.
If there’s a queen of sad-girl aesthetics, it’s a Doc Martens-clad Chamberlain posing for the camera with one hand flipping it off and the other holding an iced coffee to help fuel the breakdowns. And her fanbase—and Gen Z in general—seems to have followed her lead. Crying selfies and crying videos have become a trend among Gen Z social media users and influencers. When you’re having a mental breakdown, snap a quick selfie and let your followers know that you too deal with mental health issues. When you just finished a sad movie, it’s not enough to tweet that it was sad, you need photo evidence of your tear-stained face in the movie theater. See a cute dog that makes you weep? Snap and suddenly you’re so relatable.