What do you know about depression?
Although depression has been reported by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of disability, and the most common mental illness in the world, with over 264 million people on the globe suffering from it.
The truth is, there’s still a lot that most people don’t know or understand about it. Not only do many cases go undiagnosed, and many symptoms unnoticed, a lot of people seem to hold a misguided belief that depression looks the same for everybody, but that’s just not the case.
what hidden depression might look like?
what it might make someone do?
Here are seven things hidden depression makes you do.
1. Throw yourself into your work or studies.
When you think of someone struggling with depression, you might imagine a person who can’t even get outta bed in the morning.
Someone who spends all day just lying around and doing nothing, because they can’t muster up any motivation, but that’s just a common misconception.
Depression can also make you throw yourself into your work or your studies as an escape mechanism, to avoid spending too much time in your own head.
2. Express yourself through your creativity.
Similar to the earlier example, another way depression may keep itself hidden is if it only manifests itself through your art and creativity.
Do you find yourself writing a lot of sad songs or deeply melancholic poetry lately? Perhaps you’ve been painting haunting images, or have been ending all your stories with sad conclusions.
Take a good look at the art you make or gravitate towards, and ask yourself, “If this might be the reason why?”
3. Spend more time with others.
It’s no secret that one of the worst things depression can do is make yourself isolated.
Cutting yourself off from your loved ones. But, did you know that the opposite can also be true? Sometimes depression can make you wanna spend time with other people, though not for the right reasons.
People who struggle with hidden depression may always wanna have someone around because they’re terrified of being alone.
Depression can make you crave acceptance and validation from others, more than is healthy.
4. You feel pressured to always seem happy.
Distinguishing between someone who is genuinely happy, and someone who might be struggling with hidden depression is where it really starts to get tricky, because the truth is, the difference between them tends to be very subtle, especially if you’re not the person experiencing it.
After all, there’s a reason why they call it smiling depression.
People who struggle with it tend to feel a lot of guilt for being depressed in the first place and tend to put pressure on themselves to always seem happy to those around them.
They might even try to convince themselves that everything is fine when it’s really anything but.
5. Overthink everything.
Contrary to popular belief, many people afflicted with depression have a lot going on in their minds.
A lot of those diagnosed with depression report, “A strong tendency to overthink just about everything.” So much so that many of them end up fixated on past mistakes, perceived personal flaws, or even imagined problems in their relationships that aren’t even there.
6. Lose focus or concentration.
Having said that, however, the opposite can still be true. Depression can either put your brain into overdrive, where you’re overthinking everything, or crash the system completely, making it difficult to focus or concentrate at all.
So if you’ve noticed yourself unable to think straight on most days, blanking out a lot of the time for no reason, or struggling to do simple cognitive tasks, that used to come easily to you.
According to the American Psychological Association, “There’s a real possibility that this might be the reason why.”
7. Disregard affection or concern from others.
Last, but certainly not least. Perhaps the worst thing depression can do is blind you from all the care, concern, and affection you receive from other people.
At times when your friends, family, or even strangers come up to you when they notice something is wrong or when they notice you seem down, your depression may make you end up disregarding their concerns, as simply pity or insecurity.
So, did you relate to any of the points above? Let us know in the comments below.