Controversial YouTube personality Logan Paul has revealed that brain damage he suffered as a teenager causes him to have “a lack of empathy.”
In a deeply personal video posted to his YouTube channel on Feb. 24 that stands in stark contrast to his usual pranks, Paul documented his mission to discover “why I think and act the way I do, why I’m emotionally unavailable.”
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The journey took him to a clinic, where scans revealed that a 10mm skull fracture that he suffered when he was just 13-years-old and required a titanium plate to be placed in his head had resulted in “two large holes” forming and serious damage to his pre-frontal cortex, severely damaging his ability to empathize.
“You see these holes? It’s not missing, but it’s hurt, and this is really important because right here is the most human thoughtful part of us. It makes you human,” the doctor in the video said as he showed Paul the scans. “It’s called the pre-frontal cortex, and you hurt it, which means you’re going to have trouble with focus and forethought, and follow-through and organization, planning, empathy – so for relationships and learning from the mistakes you make.”
“We need to fix this,” the doctor continued. “If we don’t fix this, no matter how successful you are, you’re not going to make the decisions you need to move your life in the direction you want. Living the rest of your life with this brain is not going to be a lot of fun – for you or for the people who love you because you’re going to have trouble connecting.”
The doctor went on to encourage Paul, who recently faced backlash after he claimed that he was “going gay” for a month, away from risky behavior that could further damage his brain, telling him that “you’re smart, you’re just not making the kind of decisions that will help you.”
“Our question is… well, can we make it better?” he asked the YouTube star. “Are you permanently messed up or can we make this better? I think it’s more traumatic brain injury that needs to be rehabilitated – get rid of any high-risk behavior that’s going to put you at risk for another head injury, because this brain is not going to tolerate a lot more brain injury.”
Paul has frequently faced backlash for his lack of empathy, sparking worldwide criticism when, in January of 2018, he shared a video with his more than 16 million subscribers showing himself and a small crew exploring Japan’s Aokigahara Forest, better known as the Suicide Forest.
In the video, Paul was seen discovering the body of a person who appeared to have died by suicide. The inclusion of the clip not only upset fans, but also resulted in Paul taking a nearly month-long break from posting videos and YouTube suspending advertising on his channels.
