Infamous YouTube personality Logan Paul’s career has been marked by tasteless stunts, shameless pandering, and controversial events – such as filming a dead body in Japan, speaking about the belief the earth is flat, and announcing he would “go gay” for a month.
Now, he is claiming all of his antics and controversy may be the result of a brain injury much earlier in his life.
In his latest video titled “I have holes in my brain…” Paul undergoes a brain scan hoping to find an explanation for all of his troubles.
As he explains, he decided to get a brain scan to “tell me why I am the way that I am.”
“Why am I so controversial? Why do I detest [fellow YouTube celebrity] KSI?” He asks. “Why am I incapable of maintaining a committed relationship?”
Or as he bluntly puts it to the unnamed doctor before the scan “I want to figure out why I’m so f***ed up.”
During the pre-scan talk, Paul explains that he has been a trouble maker as long as he can remember. He also reveals that he suffered a skull fracture in seventh grade which resulted in having a titanium plate placed on his skull.
Once the scan has happened, Paul and the doctor review the scan and the doctor points out two blank spaces. This leads Paul to joke that he is missing part of his brain.
“It’s not missing. But it’s hurt,” says the doctor, who is not identified in the video but is believed to be controversial celebrity doctor Dr. Daniel Amen. “This is really important because right here … makes you human. .. You hurt it. Which means you’re going to have trouble with focus, forethought, organization, planning, empathy, and learning from the mistakes you made. We need to fix this. 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.”
With a provocateur like Logan Paul, it is easy to be dismissive of the claims. It would be easy to claim a brain injury is to blame for all of his scandals and controversies throughout his career and would allow him to avoid taking responsibility for his missteps.
Still, it is important to not completely disregard the possibility that a serious brain injury earlier in his life could be a factor in his adult behavior. While we often shy away from talking about it, there is strong evidence that childhood brain injury may contribute to a wide range of negative behaviors as an adult.
Most recently, the discovery that football player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez was living with severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy reignited the debate over how much brain injuries can be used to excuse criminal behavior. Additionally, research has shown that people who have been imprisoned for crimes are drastically more likely to have experienced a childhood brain injury compared to the general population.
Similarly, it has been clearly established that brain injury or CTE can directly contribute to less severe behavior problems such as anger, lack of empathy, and establishing emotional connections.
While Logan Paul may not quite be an ideal ambassador for brain injury survivors, his most recent video does more than shed potential insight into the behaviors that have made him infamous. They provide a reminder of the possible long-term effects of childhood brain injuries and the need for a long-term, comprehensive recovery plan to help mitigate these potential behavioral problems as an adult.
