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ASMRtist helps viewers battle mental illness and addiction
Even in the bizarre world of ASMR, Sarah Toth’s videos stand out. Her YouTube channel is wildly successful; she has over a million subscribers, 300 million video views, and enough sponsorships and ad revenue to support her family of four. This isn’t what sets her apart though — many ASMRtists make bank.
Toth bends the norms of even the most successful YouTubers largely by stripping the videos of all the pretense that her peers are often chided for. Every other night, she greets her viewers with a goofy transparency. Confessions about shrimp taco breath, accidental focus-skewing bumps of the camera, and periodic breaks in character give her videos an authenticity that more polished ASMRtists lack.
Toth’s candor goes far beyond taco breath. In her videos, she shares her wide-ranging experiences of trauma, from heroin addiction to suicide attempts, with the same authenticity as her commentary on cosmetic brands. Whether its a whispery tarot-reading, a haircut simulation, or a “mom tucking you in” roleplay, her frank familiarity gives viewers the impression that they’re building a relationship of trust, in spite of the hundreds of thousands of viewers live-commenting on the video.
Toth offers her life story for every viewer, in all its grit, ugliness, and triumph. Her approach is a crucial one when it comes to addressing addiction, according to her throngs of commenters.
While many ASMRtists will receive outpouring adoration from fans with insomnia or loneliness (ASMR is believed to promote relaxation and sleep), Toth operates in different margins with higher stakes. The comment-section seems less like the usual trolling clusterfuck and more like the safe space of an AA meeting. “I hope she feels as good about herself as she makes me feel about myself. I adore her,” says one viewer. “I’m going to get clean like her someday.”
Others share vulnerable admissions: “I felt suicidal this week. I’m in a big period of darkness. [Toth’s] family is the only thing getting me through.” Many big-name ASMRtists — including GibiASMR, GentleWhispering ASMR, and more — discuss mental health issues, but addressing addiction by bearing her dependency to more than a million subscribers leaves Toth in a league of her own.
