For most of us content creation and vlogging is an ideal career. You get to earn money while recording yourself doing what you love. Nicholas Perry or better known as “Nikocado Avocado” as his screen name, also saw this opportunity, not knowing that this path will lead him into the something that he might regret sooner than later.

Before dabbling with internet stardom and being a public personality, Perry was an ordinary employee and a freelance violinist—he was a trained classical musician. And so, in 2014, he started to upload videos on YouTube of his violin covers and vegan lifestyle. Fast-forward to 2016, he shifted his contents to “mukbang”— a South Korean popularized broadcast eating, where the host consumes a copious amount of food.

Since these types of contents are what catches audience attention and jacks up watch time, Perry’s YouTube followers started to blow up. Over the years, he has made accounts that accumulated millions of followers whom he has to please so that he’ll maintain his monetization on YouTube.

Perry’s excessive eating lifestyle is taking a huge toll on his health. The most apparent is how his body changed from a normal fit guy to weighing almost 340 lbs. (according to Perry in a YouTube video in July). The YouTube personality even admitted to Men’s Health Magazine in 2019 that he has already lost his libido and is suffering from erectile dysfunction all because of his obesity.

Just this September, Perry posted a video about how he broke three of his ribs. In the whole vlog, you will see how he struggled to move around his house and pained himself trying to cough. In all his videos following this incident, Perry was then seen wearing an apparatus.

Image by More Nikocado on YouTube

His followers are alarmed and concerned at the same time with his binge-eating. They tried reaching out to him through the comments of his videos while some took their concern to twitter, creating #nikocadoavocado.

While others are disgusted, some are making him an inspiration to stop binge-eating. A reddit thread created by u/Bigboyemp stated that as he watches Nikocado Avocado, the more he realizes the consequences of binge-eating and then tends to stop himself from doing so. A comment from u/houmouslover on the said thread also shared his own sentiment about binge-eating, saying it is a form of self-punishment and/or self-harm.

What is Binge-eating disorder?

Over-eating on some occasions is still normal, but excessive eating regularly to the point of discomfort is already a sign of needing help from health professionals. Binge-eating disorder is not just a physical problem, it is often tagged and referred to as a psychiatric condition. More often than not, develops from another psychological crisis.

Its symptoms vary from eating even when you’re not hungry to eating even after you’re already full. If you feel like you are suffering from this condition, do not hesitate to consult a doctor because it is treatable.

And if you know someone struggling from this condition, it is better for us to help them out of the situation rather than condemn them for what they are doing.