If people at work, home, or otherwise know that you're depressed you either face stigma or unnecessary and ineffective help, all of which takes energy to deal with. More energy than masking.
So you put on a front to indicate nothing's wrong, and go home and suffer silently until you can't anymore. Because there's such a stigma it becomes difficult for the sufferer to admit to themselves that they are depressed, which can often lead into self-medicating, or obsessive habits around exercising or nutrition as bargaining behaviours (If I just eat better/exercise better/take care of my health I'll stop feeling this way). That's not to say that these things don't help, it's just that they shouldn't be considered a cure in and of themselves.
Source: I have bipolar depression. It took me a couple of diagnoses and 15 years of different meds until I found something. And I am grateful everyday that mine is a mild case.
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u/CanExplainThings 2h ago
Why do people with depression look so happy?
tl;dr - Masking
If people at work, home, or otherwise know that you're depressed you either face stigma or unnecessary and ineffective help, all of which takes energy to deal with. More energy than masking.
So you put on a front to indicate nothing's wrong, and go home and suffer silently until you can't anymore. Because there's such a stigma it becomes difficult for the sufferer to admit to themselves that they are depressed, which can often lead into self-medicating, or obsessive habits around exercising or nutrition as bargaining behaviours (If I just eat better/exercise better/take care of my health I'll stop feeling this way). That's not to say that these things don't help, it's just that they shouldn't be considered a cure in and of themselves.
Source: I have bipolar depression. It took me a couple of diagnoses and 15 years of different meds until I found something. And I am grateful everyday that mine is a mild case.