Disclaimer: this article contains spoilers for the book “What Happened Yesterday.”
It’s often easy to imagine influencers’ lives as perfect. You see them traveling, meeting new people and just thriving. However, this is often untrue, and YouTuber Matt Sturniolo has never been afraid to be honest about his life behind the camera. “What Happened Yesterday” gives us just the clarity society needs to know life is never perfect.
The Sturniolo Triplets consist of Nick, Chris and Matt, a set of brothers who decided to pursue a career in YouTube entertainment around 2020. Even though their most famous form of videos is their car videos, where they sit in the front seats of their car and share random thoughts and opinions all together, they all three also have their own accounts and brands. Nick’s is his lip balm “Space Camp Wellness,” Chris’ is his clothing brand “Fresh Love” and Matt’s has mainly been his devoted advocacy for mental health, now being called “Yesterday’s Problem.”
On his personal YouTube account, Matt has never failed to express to his viewers the importance of mental health, along with pieces of his experience throughout. He’s discussed his views on journaling, as well as certain places feeling safer to him than others. Now, with his new book, he’s giving us a front-row seat to hear about every mental challenge he’s had in his life. In hearing about his story, it has given me more incentive to tell other people about mine.
I started therapy this past April, and after a couple of months of regular appointments, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and started on medication. It is not all of who I am, but it’s a huge part of me. A lot of people in my family have anxiety, so it’s common to feel that way at home, but sometimes my friends don’t fully understand. It is far from their fault, and it is simply because they don’t experience things in the same way I do. Reading this book finally felt like an outsider understood how I felt. I had never heard of anyone else feeling fear bubble up to your chest anytime you’re in a drive-thru, or using the school bathroom as an escape. Now I know I’m not the only one.
Matt does an excellent job in the memoir of going through the memories of his life, all while not shying away from the parts that may usually be hidden. In one of the first chapters, he talks about his first experience with anxiety attacks, and how it started at a restaurant after a Little League game. The way he describes it felt as if I were looking through a mirror. Nerves bunching up, sweat, nausea, everything feeling urgent and an immediate need to get out of where he was. He promptly jumped to find a bathroom and was met with a sign that said the establishment did not have a bathroom that was for public use. I felt that experience in my heart and bones, because the feeling of anxiety swirling throughout your whole body while having no place to hide is truly a nightmare.
“Even though there were only a few people around me, I felt like they were all watching and judging me. What did they think of me? Did they know I was panicking? I wanted to go home. Tears formed in my eyes.”
Matt wrote in his book, “What Happened Yesterday.”
Everyone with anxiety knows this feeling. Standing up at a counter, feeling as if the building will just explode at any second, simply because you are ordering food. Sitting in worry while people tell you not to, even though you can’t control it, is tiring. But Matt understands and humanizes these sensations. After watching him on YouTube for years, it felt very relieving to see a public figure break out of their shell to be honest about what life for them really looks like. It’s not all perfect, and thanks to Matt, we know that needing help is normal for even celebrities.
Matt includes in this book some of his past medical records from doctors and therapists, and this really stood out to me since we could see all the struggles he was having, the medications being prescribed and how he was doing in and out of therapy. Although I have not been as back and forth as he has been, it is reassuring to know that after going through many different anxious challenges, it does, in fact, get better and more manageable.
Another favorite factor of mine that Matt discusses is his relationship with the bathroom. Anywhere he goes, he seeks it out just to know there is a place where he can hide to calm himself down. I relate to this one immensely. Being able to go to school would not be nearly as simple had I not always known of my nearest escape; you never know when or why you will need it. On several occasions in high school, I would feel that anxious pit in my stomach working its way through my body, and my first resort was the bathroom. I’d excuse myself and take a moment to sit and breathe, wash my hands with cold water and sometimes even wet a paper towel to rest on my neck. This is always my main attempt at calming my nervous system down. It isn’t perfect, but for being stuck in a public space, it’s pretty close.
Although many people experience anxiety on a day-to-day basis, only a fraction of those experience a similar fear and struggle that Matt describes in this book. As a person who is familiar with these drowning and scary feelings, it’s been a new sense of comfort to see that I am not the only one facing this challenge. Reading this book has made me realize that these thoughts are normal to have, and experiencing any type of anxiety is normal.
I will carry Matt’s words with me throughout my anxiety journey to help myself be more patient and understanding of myself and my mind. Even when it can be difficult, it’s always good to remember that you are not alone.
“Today, I will make a mistake, and tomorrow, I will learn from it. What happened yesterday, even if painful or difficult, will make me wake up stronger tomorrow.”
Matt Wrote in his book, “What Happened Yesterday”.