--- description: "The Fault in Our Stars" and "Paper Towns" author opens up about his mental illness title: See John Green's Refreshingly Real Answer About Dealing With Mental Illness image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201f9cfd9eee0ec/69885f210a4a227fc39c5976/johngreen-papertown-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See John Green's Refreshingly Real Answer About Dealing With Mental Illness by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2015 8:25 PM CUT  John Green and Sarah Urist attend the New York City premiere of 'Paper Towns' at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on July 21, 2015 in New York City. John Green and Sarah Urist attend the New York City premiere of 'Paper Towns' at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on July 21, 2015 in New York City.Taylor Hill—Getty Images by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 13, 2015 8:25 PM CUT Bestselling author, video blogger and all around ‘[teen whisperer](http://time.com/70799/john-green-2014-time-100/ "undefined")‘ John Green has never held back from being [honest](http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/post/33203432720/anxiety-and-stuff "undefined") about his struggle with [mental illness](http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/post/65003063968/john-i-have-really-really-bad-anxiety-i-know-in "undefined"). In March, he took to Twitter to shed light on the stigmatization of antidepressants with a Tweet that was shared more than 5,000 times. > [](https://twitter.com/johngreen/status/582168019583016960) In a [Reddit Ask Me Anything](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3guvzy/iam%5Fjohn%5Fgreenauthor%5Fof%5Fpaper%5Ftowns%5Fcocreator%5Fof/ "undefined") session on Thursday, Green answered a question about how he manages his anxiety disorder while doing press junkets. Most recently, he was [on the road](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UjJCmIVxL8&feature=youtu.be "undefined") for _Paper Towns_, his latest novel to be adapted into a movie. His answer to the question reveals the nuances of living with mental illness. --- > “” --- CBT refers to [Cognitive Behavioral Therapy](http://time.com/3431098/cbt-social-anxiety/ "undefined"), a type of therapy that helps patients use creative methods to understand and work through emotional issues. The comments on Reddit show that Green’s honesty goes a long way with his fans. One user replied, saying “people do not seem to understand how hard it is,” while another thanked him for his openness, writing “I can’t tell you how often knowing that someone successful is suffering the same conditions that affects me helps me carry on.” His openness is helping his legions of fans recognize there’s no shame in having a mental illness and even more so, no shame in talking about it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3996591/john-green-mental-health/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3996591/john-green-mental-health/"},"headline":"See John Green's Refreshingly Real Answer About Dealing With Mental Illness","datePublished":"2015-08-13T20:25:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:09:42.261Z","description":"\"I'm very lucky that in general it's very manageable\"","url":"https://time.com/3996591/john-green-mental-health/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201f9cfd9eee0ec/69885f210a4a227fc39c5976/johngreen-papertown-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"ashley Ross","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta201f9cfd9eee0ec/69885f210a4a227fc39c5976/johngreen-papertown-nyc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Green and Sarah Urist","caption":"John Green and Sarah Urist","creditText":"Taylor Hill—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3996591/john-green-mental-health/","name":"See John Green's Refreshingly Real Answer About Dealing With Mental Illness"}}]}] ```