Camming is not all fun and games (or adoration and gifts). It’s fraught with serious mental health challenges like loneliness, isolation, and secrecy. As a camgirl, you not only face challenges of working for yourself, but also having to deal with the societal stigma regarding sex work, and keeping it a secret from even your closest friends and family members. It’s really no wonder that a lot of girls burn out within a few years and go back to “vanilla” work (aka “normal”, socially-acceptable jobs). My estimate is that a camming career last on average anywhere from 3 to 5 years.
Within that time, you can develop and exacerbate all sorts of mental disorders due to pure social isolation that can come with camming. Anxiety, social anxiety, depression can unfortunately become very present when all you do is interact online instead of the “real world”. When your time is spent on cam and your mind is constantly occupied with ideas of what to do during your next cam shift, you start to separate yourself from your previous life, the things you used to do and the people you used to be around.
Living every day with a lie and being secretive about what you do all day can wreak havoc on your mental state. It can lead to burnout, substance use and abuse and send you down a dark hole.
So, what can you do to combat this, assuming the benefits you get out of camming outweigh the negatives?
First, try to not completely isolate yourself from your old friends and activities
Isolation and ensuing loneliness only alienates you further and locks you into your self-imposed box. It’s a good idea to keep seeing your old friends and not changing up your life too fast too soon. If you were going to an exercise class or another activity, continue with it, so that you don’t feel like you’re completely cut off from the world, spending your days in your camroom. You need to keep some normalcy in your life, so that your mental health doesn’t suffer. Plus, exercise is great for balancing and improving your mood!
Create a daily schedule that includes time with others and self-care
Having consistency in your daily life will help you feel confident and in control. Make sure you are not going on streaming binges/camathons and then spending days to recover. Having a set time for your camming shifts, as well as time to yourself (self-care is SO important when you’re a camgirl!), plus spending time with others will ensure you have a more well-rounded life. Moderation is key, even though it will be tempting to devote all your time and energy to camming when the earnings start to pick up. Remember, that while you do socialize on cam, you also need proper, face-to-face positive and friendly interactions. Don’t underestimate its impact it plays on your psyche.
Share your secret with someone you can trust
Keeping this double life going is hard. It weighs on you and can create a lot of pain and suffering. You might not even feel it at first, since you may be excited and exhilarated by what it’s like to make more money than you ever thought possible! However, at some point the excitement will wane, and you might be left with some unresolved issues about your job, your self-worth and this massive secret that you have to keep from others. Some girls may be lucky and be able to disclose their job to their parents, but most will keep it secret. In this case, it’s a really good idea to find a counselor you can trust, so you can work through some of the emotional issues. Journalling might help too, or finding a good friend to confide in. The point of this is to not keep your emotions hidden, and to express them in a healthy way.
Camming is hard, and you have to look out for yourself, because no one will do it for you. Take a look at my Camgirl Self-Care post for some more tips!
