Inside K-entertainment's Anxiety Crisis: Why Stars and Producers Alike Live on Medication

Editor's note: Panic disorder has become an increasingly visible issue among Korean entertainers. Living with constant anxiety, they often face significant mental health challenges different from those of the general public. In severe cases, they may be forced to stop working altogether. Why do so many struggle with chronic anxiety, and how do they cope? K-POPIT examines panic disorder and anxiety in Korea's entertainment industry across a three-part series. The issue also reflects the broader anxiety experienced in Korean society today.

"My heart feels like it's going to explode, and I can barely breathe. You start thinking, this is it, I'm going to die," one industry source said. "It's called a celebrity illness. There are a lot of stars suffering in silence."

Public accounts of panic disorder among Korean entertainers have risen sharply in the past few years. Life in the age of social media and YouTube has added new sources of anxiety and scrutinity around celebrities. At the same time, the culture has shifted enough that stars now feel more comfortable talking about problems they once kept quiet.

Singer Seo In-young recently revealed on YouTube that she has been taking medication for panic disorder for more than 10 years. Filmed at a hotel before an event, she took her pills on camera and said, "I take my panic medication, and now I can start with a clear head." She said panic disorder kept her away from event stages for about a decade, and that long car rides began triggering claustrophobia as well.

Broadcaster Kim Shin-young said her panic disorder was so severe at one point that she could not step into an elevator for three months. After first experiencing symptoms on an airplane, she said she could not tolerate enclosed spaces, even leaving every door open at home. She stepped away from broadcasting work at the height of her career.

The pattern is the same across many cases. Entertainers who look glamorous and successful are quietly carrying serious mental strain. They laugh, sing, and act in front of the camera, then struggle to get through ordinary days behind it. One agency CEO said, "It's not just the artists. A lot of people working in this industry live on panic medication. The level of anxiety across the entertainment business is dangerous."

Data from South Korea's Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service showed that more than 900,000 patients were treated for anxiety disorders in 2025. Among entertainers, anxiety-linked conditions like panic disorder stand out even more. According to the Korean Artists Welfare Foundation, 1,996 people took part in artist counseling in 2025, including 1,387 in individual sessions and 609 in group sessions. Cumulative participation since the program began has reached 15,266. So why are entertainers particularly more vulnerable to anxiety?

Yale professor Clayton Alderfer built on Maslow's five-level hierarchy of needs by organizing human needs into three categories: existence (E), relatedness (R), and growth (G). This is known as ERG theory. In the entertainment industry, all three needs can be difficult to meet as they are structurally limited.

Existence needs are tied to sleeping, eating, and resting well. An entertainer's schedule is often incompatible with regular sleep. Food is restricted. Even hotel rooms are not always private, because fans sometimes show up at the door. One current idol manager, identified only as A, said, "Sometimes they suddenly go quiet, or they barely sleep. Sometimes they can't get out of the car for a while after arriving on set. The schedules are so tight that in the early stages, we often mistake it for simple fatigue."

Singer Song Ha-ye described a similar experience in an interview with K-POPIT. She said she almost never canceled a scheduled event or stage, even when she felt physically or mentally unwell. "I thought I had to eat even when I was sick. Causing trouble for the company or the fans hurt more than my own condition," she said. "I think I got on stage on responsibility alone."

Psychiatrist Park Jong-seok pointed to irregular routines and a lack of control over one's own career as key reasons anxiety can persist in the entertainment industry. "When you live without a set routine and move around randomly, sleep and daily rhythm break down, and stress builds up," he said.

Relatedness needs are also difficult to meet. The love an entertainer receives from the public flows in one direction. As popularity grows, there is less time to build the kind of emotional relationships in which a person can share what they truly feel. The fear of being disliked by the public inevitably makes stars more guarded about how they form relationships. Manager A said, "The person who is sick actually worries more about causing trouble for others. They try to make it to the set even when they feel bad, and only rest when they really can't go on. Especially when things are going well, they can't step away."

Growth needs can also become distorted when an artist's own direction clashes with the agency's. The gap between how a person sees themselves and how the public expects them to be can widen the problem. It gets worse when a group image or a manufactured "character" is prioritized over the individual. Even when a star does get to rest, the worry remains. In an industry that runs project after project constantly, there is no guarantee the same spot will be waiting after a few months away. That is where the fear kicks in: "If I stop now, will people forget me? Will someone else take my place?"

Song Ha-ye said she actually felt empty after reaching the results she wanted. She thought scoring a hit with "Your Regards" would make her happy, but it did not go the way she expected. "I proved it with results, but I wasn't really happy. That was the shock," she said. "I think that's when I started asking what actually makes me happy."

The three needs interact and can become strained at the same time. When they go unmet simultaneously, they can cause deeper mental strain. According to experts interviewed for this series, the anxiety and panic disorder entertainers face often reach a peak when multiple of these needs are blocked together.

Anxiety is not limited to the people who stand on stage. The producers who scout singers and build albums often face the same anxiety and pressures as the artists they work with. It is widely said that almost no CEO nor producer at a major agency goes without some kind of anxiety medication. Inside the industry, there is a saying that if the pills stopped, the business would stop with them.

Park Jin-young, chief producer at JYP Entertainment, said in a past interview, "If I care about the results, I can't sleep from the anxiety." He said he tries not to cling to outcomes he cannot fully control, like song chart performance. He described staff members who constantly refresh the real-time music charts as being "like people trading stocks, staring at the graph."

For producers, the anxiety comes from unpredictability. Artists and producers play different roles, but both face results that are hard to forecast. An album or project prepared for months may not connect. A single unexpected piece of content can turn into a massive hit. One producer said, "Every time I release an album, the fear of failure almost brings me to tears."

Park said, "When you keep facing situations where your own effort can't control the outcome, career uncertainty grows, and so do helplessness and anxiety." He added, "The pressure of always being judged by the public, and the constant comparison with rivals, can turn into chronic stress." Watching peers or rival companies succeed can also fuel the fear of falling behind.

How do entertainers cope with chronic anxiety? More entertainers are sharing their recovery stories. Seo In-young stepped away from events and festival stages for about 10 years because of panic disorder, but returned to the stage this year. She continues to work while still on medication.

Song Ha-ye tried to stop chasing results. "Of course I want the album to do well, but thinking about it doesn't make it happen," she said. "I try to focus on what I can control, like what time I got up today and how I'm feeling."

She also deliberately pulled back from public reactions. Since her mid-20s, she has barely read online comments. "People who don't like me are going to dislike me no matter what," she said. "If a criticism matches how I see myself, I think about it and try to improve. If it doesn't, I treat it as that person's opinion. Trusting my own ear has become the shield that protects me."

Psychiatrist Park said the key is drawing a line between what a person can change and what they cannot. "For entertainers, there's a lot they can't control no matter how hard they try, like whether a project succeeds or how the public reacts," he said. "If you keep clinging to results you can't control, helplessness and anxiety only grow." He added, "Start with what you can manage, like sleep, exercise, and a steady daily routine. If symptoms keep coming back, don't try to tough it out alone. Get treatment."

When there is no work, entertainers worry about the next chance. When work is going well, they worry about how long they can hold on. Manager A summed up the industry's anxiety this way.

"When the work stops, they're anxious that it stopped. When they're doing well, they worry about how long they can keep it going. It's a job where you're anxious when things go well, and anxious when they don't."

▶ To be continued in "Sick Behind the Scenes ②: Running to Fortune-Tellers and Clinging to Shamans".