MrBeast said if his mental health was a priority he 'wouldn't be as successful'

• MrBeast said on a podcast that his enormous success has meant sidelining his mental health.
• He lives in "hard mode," but the pressure of working all the time and being so famous has a cost.
• Workplace professionals warn neglecting mental health for success can lead to burnout and bad choices.

The world's biggest YouTuber doesn't prioritize his mental health — and thinks he wouldn't be as successful if he did.

Jimmy Donaldson, better known to his 364 million YouTube subscribers as MrBeast, appeared on Steven Bartlett's "Diary Of A CEO" podcast on Thursday.

"There's definitely times where I would cry," he said. "But if my mental health was a priority, I wouldn't be as successful as I am."

Workplace professionals and psychologists warned that MrBeast's mindset can be a slippery slope.

Donaldson told Bartlett, a British entrepreneur and investor who's on the panel of the British version of "Shark Tank" called "Dragons' Den," said nobody made videos like his because "no one wants to live the life I live or be in my head. They would be miserable."

Donaldson said he lives life in "hard mode," but the pressure of working all the time and being so famous was taking its toll. He revealed he had read upward of 5,000 messages telling him to kill himself.

"We were not meant to receive this kind of feedback from basically anyone, anywhere in the world, just all consistently, day in and day out," Donaldson said.

"This is the life I chose. You want success, you want to change the world, you want to do this. And this is the price you have to pay."

MrBeast's level of fame isn't for everyone

From the outside, Donaldson looks like he's winning. He has a major Prime Video show, "Beast Games," is the biggest online celebrity on the planet, and has multiple successful businesses.

However, he's also faced criticism about his inner circle, how he runs his companies, and conditions on the set of "Beast Games."

Workplace experts told Business Insider that neglecting your mental health to pursue career gains can lead to burnout and poor decisions.

"I can imagine why a successful businessman would cast their mental health aside to prioritize their goals and success," Stephanie Boucher, a registered psychotherapist who specializes in burnout and trauma, told BI.

"Hustle culture" had some merit, she said, but ignoring your mental health was likely to be counter-productive in the long term.

"MrBeast might have found success while casting his aside, along with likely many successful people," Boucher said. "However, the costs are significant."

Slippery slope

Heather Lamb, a doctor of education and a workplace well-being expert, said Donaldson's statements about mental health were "disturbing."

"Mental health should be considered as a stumbling block for long-term success," she said. "In the workplace, forgotten mental health can lead to burnout, reduced creativity, poor decision-making, and a decrease in physical health."

Lamb said that while putting your mental health aside can work in the short term, your performance will eventually start to suffer.

Breese Annable, a clinical psychologist and career coach, told BI it is a common and false belief that success and mental well-being are binary choices.

"While short-term trade-offs can sometimes be necessary for big goals, the idea that mental health has to be sacrificed for high achievement is both misleading and, ultimately, self-defeating."

Annable said success is a relative term, and many will achieve money, influence, and titles while sacrificing their well-being.

"But it doesn't come without a cost," she said. "Mental health isn't just about emotional stability. It directly impacts cognitive function, decision-making, creativity, and relationships — all of which are essential for sustained success."

The costs often aren't recognized until it is too late, Annable added, "until they've already burned out or find themselves looking back and questioning whether the career they built was worth what they sacrificed."

The mind is like a 'rubber band'

Jessen James, a former psychiatric nurse turned behavioral psychologist and leadership coach, told BI that he interpreted Donaldson's words differently. Neglecting one's mental well-being can be dangerous, but he felt how people handle and adapt to situations is more important.

"It's a bit like a rubber band — the more you stretch it, the less it returns to its former shape," he said. "That's how the mind works. The more you stretch it, the less it will go back to its original state."

James said problems occur when people neglect their basic needs such as rest and refueling.

Donaldson may look back and wish he had been kinder to himself, had taken more time for himself, or hadn't focused so much on entertaining others over his own needs, James added.

"He might well do all of that in the future, but then he'll also counteract that with the achievements he's got. So, there'll always be a rationale behind why he did it."