John Green's latest video highlights the importance of empathy and self-worth
By Meg Dowell
John Green has released his second August video marking his return to the internet and offering reflections on his time away.
The author and content creator announced at the end of June that he would be taking a month-long break from YouTube and the internet as a whole for mental health reasons. In that video, he spoke openly about struggling to manage his depression and needing time to focus on making his health a priority.
In this week's video, titled "What Helped Through Depression," Green discussed the elements of his time away that have been helping him through a particularly difficult time. Specifically, he highlighted the importance of community support, stimulating activities that aren't too demanding, and working with mental health professionals.
While discussing core beliefs with his psychiatrist, it became clear that his overarching beliefs about humanity -- that everyone deserves to be loved and welcomed and understood -- were not translating to his core beliefs about himself. The internet is an extremely difficult place to exist, and when people frequently communicate that you are not worth the things mentioned above, it can be challenging not to believe them.
But Green says he's working on that -- and takes the time to remind his audience that surviving toxic environments often depends on the health of our beliefs about ourselves.
"Every human being, even me, deserves love and compassion," he said, "and to be welcomed into the human fold with generosity and empathy."
Green, like many content creators, spends a lot of time online. When you make content online, whether it's for a living or a side hustle or you're still figuring out how it fits into your life, the pressure to be aware of what's going on in the world and in your respective online spaces in itself can become toxic. The need to have something to respond to or to hunt for inspiration is strong. And that can lead you to some "bad brain places" as I like to call them.
Taking breaks is not possible for everyone, especially long extended breaks. But sometimes, taking some time away from online spaces -- even if it does not solve all your problems -- can at least help you see things more clearly.