Retired Overwatch League pro and Twitch streamer Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larned returned to streaming last week after nearly half a year off, and explained how he combatted depression during his break.
Back in January 2021, Seagull announced an indefinite hiatus from Twitch, citing burnout and depression as the primary culprits behind his leave of absence.
After just under six months, the popular Overwatch player and content creator made his grand return to the Amazon-owned site to play games and watch Summer Game Fest footage with his chat.
Earlier in the broadcast, Seagull was checking out of fan art of himself, and came across one in particular of him before and after his Twitch break – with the latter looking buff and determined.
According to the streamer, he made good use of his time away from Twitch to improve his mental state and make better lifestyle choices.
“The first two months, all I did was play World of Warcraft, and after that, I started getting more help for depression. Stuff like that. It was actually genuinely really hilarious,” he explained. “I’ve had a history of depression and stuff like that, but I’ve never really gotten help for it.”
Larned then told a funny story about one of his first-ever sessions with a therapist, and how they provided an external viewpoint on his life.
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“So, let me get this straight. You sit inside all day for twenty hours a day to play video games alone… and you wonder why you’re depressed,” Seagull laughed, imitating his doctor.
In addition to seeing a professional, Seagull also says he’s started “treating himself like he does his dog” in order to create more of a lifestyle change.
“If I took my dog for a walk, I gotta take my human for a walk too,” he said. “I started going for walks more regularly. I started to actually remotely eat and go outside. It’s been nice.”
All in all, Seagull is doing a lot better than he was before his break. “The impact of regularly going outside and seeing the sunlight has legitimately a very, very positive impact on my life in particular,” he concluded. “So that’s been nice.”
Hopefully, the Twitch star can keep it up and we can see him more actively return to playing games like Overwatch in the near future.
