Raines created a successful YouTube channel dedicated to her advocacy efforts rescuing foxes from fur farms.
Animal rescue activist and YouTube star Mikayla Raines has died by suicide, according to her husband. She was 29.
Ethan Raines announced her death in an emotional video he posted to her YouTube channel on Monday.
He said that for years his wife suffered from various mental health issues and struggled to cope with online criticism.
“She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer, and she ended her life,” he said. “And it breaks my heart that someone who is selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her.”
yeah I don’t think the human brain was meant to cater to a million fans
This is a case where you need to have hard skin before you’re allowed to be a streamer or content creator or celebrity. This is always only a matter of time.
The fault isn’t on the streamer. It’s on the potentially hundreds of people who don’t think about their fellow human beings before they hit “submit”. My heart goes out to Mikayla. I wish people could just be nicer to good people.
To give the commenter bit of credit… They didn’t say who’s fault it is. What they said, you put yourself in public? You have a target on your back. Some much larger than others. But the decision is ultimately up to them if they want to be exposed. Does that suck? Yeah. But that’s the reality. It’s not just sunshine and rainbows.
So the responsibility lies with the person who wasn’t thick-skinned, and not with the (likely) hundreds of people who tormented them, got it.
Being sensitive and deeply affected by the treatment one receives from others is a normal human trait. It’s not a moral failing. In fact, the world would be a better place with more sensitivity.
It’s interesting how so many people won’t criticize the bad actors, but easily criticize those on the receiving end of this behavior.
I think that both of you are right. The people doing the harassing are despicable and are culpable for their actions. At the same time, it’s also unrealistic to become an internet celebrity without having thick skin.
wth no!
Sad, I watched her shorts sometimes. Apparently there was a hate ‘snark’ subreddit that just made up shit about her all day, with some members connected to the factory farming fur industry
If there was an organized harassment campaign against her I wonder if there is any legal culpability for those involved.
So…wait. I’ve never heard of her, but you’re saying there was an entire subreddit deddicated to making up lies about her, saying she did horrible shit, KNOWING what they said was a lie? Because if I’m reading this right, that’s pretty fucked up.
Apparently there are ‘snark’ (what the hell kinda name for a genre is that?) pages on Reddit for all sorts of niche stuff
There’s snark pages on lemmy too, some of them moved here after getting kicked off Reddit.
Fundiesnark is often for people who leave insane religious institutions or crazy churches to talk about that and make fun of the people still trying to push their hateful religious agenda online, there’s a lot of survivors of some bad shit there, I support it frankly but like, foxes? Not like any of these people are coming from fur farms where they were personally abused and need a space to talk about its ridiculousness
Also snarky puppy is just a musical group it’s not a snark group
Not like any of these people are coming from fur farms where they were personally abused and need a space to talk about its ridiculousness
I suppose they are incredibly small, disturbed people
Snarky puppy is amazing!
Man, my life is kinda sad, but at least it’s not “join a community specifically to hate on stuff” sad. What hosers.
quietly unsubscribes from all reddit sublemmies
Lol at Snarky Puppy getting caught up in that search result.
TIL there’s a snarky puppy community here
It’s a pretty fucked up name if you ask me, specifically.
So telling lies about people is a ok, but mentioning a green plumber is not. I’m fucking grateful that I’m banned from that cesshole of a website now.
I follow her and she was a beautiful human. This news is so painful for me.
Wtf she seemed so happy in her vids
Sorry that was a flippant reaction. I’m so sorry she struggled and wish she was able to get help before it came to this.
I have depression and I understand that you can seem outwardly happy and still nothing can bring joy on the inside.
Relevant:
Deep condolences to her family and husband.
We sometimes forget everyone is human and should be treated better. The internet can be such a hostile place.
Weird how someone who became a minor celebrity opposing the lucrative live fur industry would be targeted and harassed to death.
I hope this isn’t some kind of pattern, wherein public figures who speak out in defense of environmental and social welfare causes are defamed and driven into obscurity or death.
This has been an established pattern for decades…
I think it was around 2002, when i read about that girl that died from a car accident. She had taken her dad’s car, without permission.
Iirc, one of the police officers that was at the accident site took lots of photos of her corpse or rather, from the pieces scattered along the road.
Somehow those photos were leaked online and trolls had nothing better to do, than keep sending emails to the girl’s parents. The subject was already something along the lines of , paraphrasing, “Hi Dad, I’m back” or “Guess who’s back in town?”
The emails always contained some of the photos.
The parents moved and even changed their names.
Who the fuck does something like that? The same kind of troll, that now harassed Mikayla to death.
Oh yeah, Porche Girl. Got really popular on early /b/.
“Thralls of the Archons”
I knew kids in high school who tortured gophers, and who knows what else, for the stimulus. Kind of dead inside; in retrospect, badly sociopathic, but without coping techniques or charisma.
deleted by creator
This is a good reason to avoid getting Internet famous. The Internet is full of trolls, and you have to be prepared for it or it’ll destroy you. It doesn’t matter what content you’re famous for, pieces of shit will try to tear you down just for the fun of it.
Particularly if you’re a good person and you tend to internalize what others say about you. Lots of Internet Famous people are sociopaths who thrive on people trying to tear them down.
I believe she had BPD as well, which in itself often gets you targeted harassment online while also making you extremely sensitive to said harassment.
I don’t know her at all - is that BPD diagnosis something confirmed, thet she shared and all?
I have terribly mixed feelings about people with BPD.
On one side, lots of empathy: they often feel miserable and (not always, but) very often their BPD is the result of trauma or abuse.
On the other, and having lived it for a decade and a half: they can make the lives of people in their surroundings an absolute abominable horror-movie type of nightmare.
It’s actually treatable but not all people with BPD seek treatment, it’s a tough one.
I personally cannot confirm it, I just saw it being mentioned on one of the BPD subs on reddit.
I think it’s important to differentiate people with mental health issues and bad people with mental health issues.
I have BPD, it sucks so much and I suffer a lot of emotional pain. I have hurt some people, but the first person I really hurt, I loved like no other, and when she told me what I was doing to her when she left me, I decided not to be that person anymore.
I’ve fucked up a lot of my life during my worse episodes, but I choose not to be a horrible person to the people around me. I don’t always get it right, but I try.
A diagnosis doesn’t make you evil or bad, that’s a personal choice.
Bless you, take care of yourself and loved ones. If you do anything at all, please have safeguards against the most harrowing statistics with suicide on this diagnosis. Even worse if you are male but that’s beside the point <3
I have an uncle who has been cut-off from the family because he refuses to treat his BPD and his sisters got tired of taking care of/cleaning up after him. “Doesn’t like how the medicine makes him feel”. Pretty sure he started self-medicating with other stuff and found a woman who enables him, don’t know exactly (it’s been two decades since I last heard from him)
If he was taking medicine for it, it likely wasn’t BPD; BPD doesn’t have any chemical treatments. Treatment is usually Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to try and regulate the person’s emotions and establish a more normalized baseline emotional state. But that requires a lot of personal effort, and many people with BPD refuse to follow through with it. And CBT only really helps with the emotional outbursts; It doesn’t do a lot for the abandonment issues, desires to self-harm, dissociation, etc…
Maybe he was bipolar? Bipolar is in the same category as schizophrenia, because the mania produces delusions and hallucinations. And it is treated with meds similar to schizophrenia.
Bipolar is indeed what I meant, I forgot that Borderline Personality Disorder took the initialism. It’s also probable that he has more than just that going on.
BPD relies on DBT and not CBT
BPD is brutal on the people close to the person with the disorder. Absolutely brutal.
My sister has BPD. My parents cut her off after some particularly spectacular episodes. I stuck up for her even after she wasn’t allowed around anymore. She tried to off herself in my room when I let her hide out from her boyfriend (not the first time she did that). She ended up moving in with that scumbag who on multiple occasions beat her senseless and threw her out of a moving vehicle. I had to come over (strapped mind you) and escort her from his place to the station onto a greyhound to go live with her cousin. I have so much fuckin trauma on account of her. She’s better now, for now. If it comes to it again tho I’ll always fight tooth and nail to keep her safe, regardless of how outrageously she behaves. That’s my fuckin sister.
You’re a good sibling. I had an ex that really fucked me up. I found out later that she was diagnosed with BPD a few years after our relationship.
After reading up on it, it explained so much… Didn’t really help anything, but explained it. Made the mistake of reconnecting with her around the time of the pandemic. What a terrible idea that was lol.
Thank you, you’re an amazing sibling. Just don’t let her abuse you. I hope she is getting help, it can get better.
There just aren’t enough therapists learning how to administer dialectical behavior therapy. Very helpful for people with BPD, addiction problems, or PTSD.
Wait what? People harass people online because they’ve got BPD? Like they specifically target people who are suffering from BPD? Why??
Fucking gross.
Because hurt people hurt people.
People with BPD can be very manipulative and controlling, they can leave you with your own psychological trauma if they’re not self aware enough to realise what they’re doing. And some people are just evil and don’t try be better. So there are a lot of people who have been hurt by people with BPD and they then become a target for harassment.
Sad part is that most people with BPD just want to be loved. Unfortunately they can’t trust love or anyone around them. It’s fucked and really hard to manage, but possible with a lot of hard work.
I’ve been hurt a lot by people with BPD. I have provided a lot of emotional (and financial) support only to eventually be taken for granted and/or abused. Some people with BPD can be absolute monsters.
It’s taken years of therapy and self healing to understand how they’re hurting too and seriously don’t understand how they’re hurting others sometimes.
Just wish more people could learn to not lash out when they’re hurt and seek healing. It’s hard regardless if you’ve got BPD, PTSD, or whatever, but it’s always the right way to go. Everyone deserves respect and understanding.
No, people don’t specifically look for people with BPD. I believe you misunderstood.
I would assume that the trolls are attracted to those people because they get more of a reaction to their vitriol. It’s sad, honestly.
Yeah, I agree. If a sadistic person wants to see reactions naturally they’ll continue to harass the people that give it to them.
Then what does this mean?
I believe she had BPD as well, which in itself often gets you targeted harassment online
I believe some people react to bullying in a specific way that excites bullies. It’s not like they say “hey, who’s got BPD,” it’s just that people with BPD tend to get the reactions they seek. Don’t mistake this as saying the bullies aren’t doing wrong or ableist. It’s still awful.
Well, it is unfortunately symptomatic. Lived with one for 10 years. Gave everything. It is not easy to admit that most of the even self aware sufferers will automatically manipulate and stir up drama due to the impossible weight of their own guilt and anger which if you want to help you have to realise is never going away and more often than not continually hurt anyone around them. It’s sad that giving energy and help to sufferers is so draining and destructive and if you want support many people react like you. Except in support groups. So if anyone is reading : take care of yourself first, giving more than you have is bad for everyone and it will be hard not to. Support groups are your friend as many that are in the same situation sharing and understanding is deeply important to survive
Is BPD bi-polar disorder? Or borderline personality disorder?
Latter
BPD is borderline. BD is Bipolar Disorder. But most commonly referred to as simply bipolar.
BPD is borderline personality disorder.
F
“Press F to pay respects” if you don’t know the meme.
Thank you for providing context. I guess I’m officially old on the internet.
This one hits me hard. So sad. So goddamn sad. Seeing her and those foxes really cheered me up. Her death just stabs me right through the heart.
That’s incredibly sad to hear. I watched this channel alot to see the various fox personalities, like Finnegan. I’m gonna be worried about the foxes for a while, now.
People need to start staying off social media, especially when they’re not doing well mentally
I couldn’t bear to watch her husbands video, but I saw several comments on reddit that her “friends” were spewing this shit too.
While they have admirable goals and do important work, a lot of animal rights people are fucking nuts.
Correction * a lot of PEOPLE are fucking nuts.
Tragic.
But listen, no one needs YouTube that bad. If you’re having issues because of it get off of it. It’s not real anyway. (YouTube, that is. People and foxes are, of course)
She got harassed and bullied by people she knew IRL. They would’ve slandered her even if she wasn’t on youtube.
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing But they just won’t listen.How can you blame someone for doing what should be universally understood as a positive and still having nonstop trolling? Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to stop the harassment. Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to make her unsee the harassment. Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to promote advocacy for the animals. But you think it’s her fault for putting herself in a place that is both a primary media location and collection point for a bunch of toxic people?
Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to stop the harassment.
Disagree.
Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to promote advocacy for the animals.
Also disagree
But you think it’s her fault for putting herself in a place that is both a primary media location and collection point for a bunch of toxic people?
You can change your circumstances. None of it is her fault. But if anyone is in that position they should understand that getting out is absolutely an option.
That advice is basically, don’t work in your chosen vocation. Running animal rehabilitation is not free, you need some sort of source of funding.
And yet animal rehabilitation exists all over the world and has for decades without it. Somehow.
🤔
If your job is causing you enough mental anguish to go through with suicide, it’s reasonable to suggest you find another. That goes for any job.
it’s reasonable to suggest you find another
If it’s “just a job” like working retail at Target, sure, that’s respectable take. It’s still blaming the victim, but it’s also advocating for the victim to address the issue themselves.
But if it’s not “just a job”? If it’s your life’s work, your calling, something you love more than anything else?
That idea is very likely what drove her to the brink. You really have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.
I’ve been there and I almost didn’t survive. Choosing to live isn’t always so easy.
If you are just working for money, yeah.
People work for things that benefit everyone at a personal cost all the time, and advances are made because of people like that. It’s a good thing, which had tragic consequences in this instance.
We need to protect people who put the world before themselves. This isn’t her failing, it’s ours.
I’m in agreement with you, though I still think it’s a fair suggestion for people putting the world before themselves to find another line of work too. I’m not saying that’s the only reasonable suggestion. I’m all for trying to mitigate the risk of abuse and trauma in the first place. I took Optional’s comment as an intended show of support to folks that might be struggling with similar abuse in their life.
Alright, but in general just leaving the work to other people doesn’t mitigate, it just shifts the abuse to other people.
Social workers, emergency aid, etc have high suicide rates.
Blaming the victim eh?
Fuck off, no one here is blaming her. But reality is holding no punches. I too would love for there to be no world hunger or violence in the world… Wait till you find out about this thing called “crime”!
Fuck off yourself. They clearly put the fact she killed herself in the frame of “it’s so simple to not do a thing”. Extra fuck you because you deserve it.
No, just saying people younger than me never had a time when none of these horrible things existed. (Other things did, but not YouTube fame.)
Uh OK… Suicide due to bullying isn’t an internet only thing. We’ve been killing ourselves since the beginning of ourselves.
It’s different with the internet, but I don’t need to tell you that.
This is not cool. I don’t know why it’s bothering me but it’s probably because She looks uncomfortably similar to my ex wife. She is not, in fact, my ex wife.
The fact that she had devoted so much work to animals is also eerily similar to my ex wife.
Now if you said she was from like Minnesota/Iowa/Wisconsin and she was autistic too, then I would be making a phone call right now.
