Chris Olsen Says New Memoir Helps Young Readers Feel 'Less Alone'

Chris Olsen says writing his newly released memoir, "I Think My Therapist Hates Me," was not easy — but he believes it was worth it.

"People say, was it cathartic to write it? No, it felt like I was just kind of like stabbing myself over and over again," the TikTok star said Sunday at the MTV VMAs. "Now the book's out, people seem to be having a positive impact from it. It's helping people. That's all that matters to me."

The memoir chronicles Olsen's battle with substance abuse disorder, his journey to get sober and his mental health struggles. Since publication, he has received many messages from readers.

For Olsen, the book's core purpose is connection. "It's a lot about young people who have maybe struggled with their own substance abuse issues or they've been in families where addiction was a big issue and getting through, that they felt very alone and I think that is the point of writing a story like that, writing a memoir, feeling less alone and relating to people and that's really all I wanted," he said.

The 28-year-old grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He rose to prominence as one of the original influencers on TikTok, where he has amassed more than 14 million followers, with another three million on Instagram. Beyond social media, Olsen works as a singer and actor and is an LGBTQ advocate. In 2022, he hosted Variety's Power of Young Hollywood party in Los Angeles.

The conversation was not entirely somber. Olsen joked about adapting the memoir as a limited television series — and offered a casting suggestion with a wink.

"It could have to be someone humble like Harry Styles," he cracked. "I just want someone who looks like me, like a newcomer, a newcomer who looks like me, acts like me and wants it. He's hungry for the role."

The joke landed at an event built for spectacle, but Olsen's stated priorities stayed fixed on the readers writing to him. The memoir's account of substance abuse disorder, sobriety and mental health has, by his account, reached exactly the audience he wrote it for: young people who felt isolated by addiction, whether their own or a family member's.

"Feeling less alone and relating to people — that's really all I wanted," Olsen said.

Whether a screen adaptation materializes remains an open question, and Olsen's casting pitch is plainly tongue-in-cheek. What is concrete is the book itself: a memoir from a creator with a combined following of more than 17 million across TikTok and Instagram, published and already generating reader responses — the outcome its author says is the only one that matters to him.