We all feel helpless, sad or inadequate at some point in our lives. For most of us, these feelings are completely normal responses to stressful and unpleasant events that we experience, like financial struggles or an end of a long-term relationship. Our negative feelings might be painful and overwhelming, but they pass and become less intense as time goes by. When your mood is extremely sad and negative for a quite a while and gets more intense over time, you may have depression.
Even though we think that social media allows us to be connected to our loved ones 24/7, many recent studies have discovered that it’s actually making us feel lonelier. Researchers state that every 1 out of 3 people in our generation is depressed mainly due to being lonely.
Most of the time depression stays hidden within the effected person for a long time without being noticed. These people fight their inner demons and hardly anybody can see through their struggle or can help them deal with it.
The main purpose of this article is to make these struggling souls more visible to you, so you might be able to save a life.
Here are 11 habits of people with concealed depression
They are talented and expressive beings
Depression and anxiety are very common disorders among celebrities. It does not mean that being sad make you talented. Being depressed makes a person more emotional and this phenomenon can bring out the best in them. They can express and create beauty through the darkness of the emotions they carry and they will be more attached to the type of art they create to ease the pain in their soul. Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Bill Hicks, Chester bennington are some of world renowned artists who ended their life due to untreated depression.
They can be pros at “cover-up” stories
This can be for anything from the cuts on their arms to the reason they have no appetite. People who live with depression experience various hardships when dealing with the normalcy of their daily lives. People with depression know what to say to avoid attention from others to those displays of pain.
They can have strange eating habits
Changes in eating habits when faced with depression differs from person to person. Some people tend to eat more when they are depressed as they replace sadness with food. Others loose appetite when they are depressed. A sudden loose or gain of weight could both be signs of hidden depression.
Their sleeping pattern changes
Certain people who are experiencing depression tend to oversleep as they are emotionally exhausted and they feel as if there isn’t anything better to do. Others might have trouble with sleeping and suffer with insomnia.
They often think about life and death
Not every person with depression are suicidal. However, depression invokes a unique and complex thought process about life in general and make them question the purpose of it. When they furiously seek answers to life questions, they might feel more desperate and exhausted.
They may understand substances differently
A person who is battling depression are more aware of the substances and drugs they are taking to ease the pain. They understand that alcohol is a depressant and drinking it over an extended period of time can cause a low mental stage and they might not be able to handle normal situations. They also know sugar, caffeine, CBD oil and other prescribed drugs can ease their mind and raise their mood. They know what substances does not mix well and they are mindful about altering their state of mind through the substances they take in.
They might lose their interest in daily activities
People with depression will not care about former hobbies, pastimes, social activities or sex anymore. Depression affects their ability to feel joy and pleasure.
Sometimes they silently ask for help
People who have not suffered depression cannot understand the depth of struggle depressed people face on daily basis. It is a constant fight to literally stay alive when your own brain is trying to kill you. When depression steal their will to fight any longer, they will show signs of “silent cries for help”. If you are a person whom they have faith on, they will give you hints to say that they need help.
As they are not going to express it directly, you should pay attention if a person seems to be feeling down. You might be able to save a life.
They might display reckless behaviour
Pamela Cantor, PhD, a psychologist and lecturer at Harvard Medical School in his study stated that “There is a strong relationship between depression and high-risk behaviours”. She further stated that excessive drinking, drug abuse, unsafe sex, compulsive gambling, reckless driving, engaging in dangerous sports and cutting are all self-injurious behaviours that depressed individuals commonly use to provide temporary relief from intense emotional pain.
They might be addicted to social media
Several studies confirm that people who go online compulsively and have more virtual social interactions than real ones may be depressed. They may feel deprived of real human companionship and may be using the online world to escape from their thoughts and feelings.
They might neglect their physical appearance
In a 2014 survey of more than 10,000 people, 61% who had poor oral health reported suffering depression. The more dental issues they had, the more severe the depression was. If a person’s grooming routine suddenly disappear, then there is a higher chance that they are experiencing depression. Not caring what you look like on the outside such as not combing hair and brushing teeth are strong signs of problems happening on the inside.
“Depression doesn’t have a face or a mood.” – Talinda Bennington
Therefore paying attention for the hidden signs of depression can help us save many lives. It is also important for people who are suffering with depression to make a commitment to themselves to talk to somebody before doing any kind of a self-harm.
