We can all learn a lot from John Green's recent YouTube break

John Green is taking a break from the internet this month ... because of the internet.

In his June 25 vlogbrothers video, the author explained that he has been having a hard time with his mental health, and that being online wasn't helping.

"In the 17 and a half years we've been making videos, I've never had to do this," he said in the video. "And I feel really bad about it. But ... I have not been doing that great."

John Green and his brother Hank Green began posting videos on YouTube in 2007 and, for the most part, have kept a consistent schedule since. They each usually upload one video each per week, but John won't upload his next one until August.

He has been fairly open about his mental health history on the internet and in his work. His book Turtles All The Way Down, the movie adaption of which released on Max earlier this year, features a character who experiences OCD similarly to the way he lives with it in real life. He is often honest with his audience when he is struggling. Rather than taking a break, he often writes and makes videos to offer a sense of hope to viewers and to himself.

But he is taking the month of July to focus on himself -- partially so that he can feel well enough to finish his next book coming out in 2025, but mostly because no one wants to continue living in a constant state of feeling like nothing matters.

Social media, in its design to keep us on various apps and platforms for as long as possible each day, often leads us to believe we can't leave it even for a short time. When you post consistently and then stop, the algorithms supposedly stop favoring your content. Online creators, whether they have millions of followers or barely 100, are under constant pressure to post as much and as often as possible. It becomes a game. The more you do, the more rewards you "might" get as a result.

Green's brief hiatus is an important reminder that some things are more important than YouTube or your other favorite social media apps. Taking a break does not mean you have to disappear from the interent forever. But even if you did, that doesn't mean everything would stop mattering or that people would stop caring about you.

His video ends with a series of parting words offering the familiar brand of hope he does his best to give in every project he works on.

"Despair is a lie. Hopelessness is a lie. You not being loved or worthy of love is a lie. Your passion and work and enthusiasm and spark of conscious not mattering ... is a lie."

The internet lies to us sometimes. It's okay to put down your phone for a while and remind yourself of all the things about you and your life that are true.