Twitch streamer QTCinderella revealed that she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after her house got swatted. In an emotional interview with YouTuber Anthony Padilla, she recounted the terrifying incident, which she said was one out of three times that she and her boyfriend Ludwig Ahgren experienced this.
Swatting is where a person will contact emergency services to send law enforcement to a particular address. This has happened to many content creators already, including the likes of Ludwig, who has been swatted live on stream. Although some creators and streamers have shared that the police would often be understanding, the distress of cops barging in their homes and having guns pointed at them can be traumatizing.
In the latest episode of Padilla's I Spent a Day With (around the 20-minute mark), QTCinderella talked about being diagnosed with PTSD after Ludwig got swatted during his 31-day subathon last year. The streamer revealed she wasn't able to sleep while her boyfriend was live 24/7 because their house was swatted before where guns were pointed at them. QTCinderella said that she stayed up when Ludwig would sleep, which he would also stream during the subathon, and would only rest for a few hours once he was up in the morning. When she decided to sleep on Easter morning (day 27 of the subathon), she woke up to police outside their house once again, which prompted her to end Ludwig's subathon stream for a brief period. At the time, QTCinderella apologized for stopping the stream by accident without mentioning the swatting.
QTCinderella continued by saying she got hate threads on Reddit for ending Ludwig's Twitch stream, but despite the comments, she was more scared of getting swatted again. She said that her PTSD has made her terrified of cars and helicopters passing by, and has caused her to wake up in the middle of the night thinking they were getting swatted again.
Fans have been sympathetic to QTCinderella's situation and mental health, pointing out how insensitive people can be for doing "pranks" like this. QTCinderella also emphasized that this will never be a funny joke because it could cause intense trauma and someone could die after getting swatted, noting that she didn't know when she would be able to sleep through the night again after experiencing it three times already.
With other prolific names like Adriana Chechik and Adin Ross also having their fair share of horrifying swatting stories, streamers are forced to take measures to protect themselves, whether it's ensuring their information is private or ramping up security.