Mental Health: Everything you need to know about SMILING DEPRESSION
New Delhi : Every time we look at the picture of someone smiling, it fills us up with joy but what most of us are unaware of is that someone who comes across as happy might also be suffering from depression. With the recent death of our beloved Sushant Singh Rajput, everyone seems to be talking about mental health. Just because someone is successful and doing well in life and has a great relationship or seems happy doesn't mean that they cannot suffer from depression. Smiling depression is a type of high functioning depression that a large number of people suffer from. Smiling depression is a form of major depressive disorder with atypical features.
People with smiling depression often hide their pain and troubles behind a big wide smile. Many people do this because they don't want to burden their loved ones with their problems or they may believe that their problems are not big enough to be affecting their mental health. When someone's life seems perfect and yet they feel broken on the inside, it makes them feel that it's all in their head and they tend to ignore their problems and their mental health as well.
A large number of people feel the need to do well in life and achieve their goals and become successful. Most of these people tend to be perfectionists and put all their energy in doing something productive and working towards their goals but this is exactly what high functioning depression is. Such people set unrealistic standards or high expectations for themselves and when they fail to achieve these goals, it makes them feel like failures and it takes a toll on their mental health.
Even people with smiling depression have some basic signs of depression which can make it easier for their loved ones to understand their mental state and help them before it's too late because such people are also at a high risk of committing suicide. Such people may appear happy, content and cheerful but deep down they're filled with despair and sadness. But they do have the classic symptoms like weight loss or weight gain, changes in appetite and sleep cycle, low self-esteem and hopelessness, extreme sadness and low self-worth, suicidal thought, self-harm etc.
