 Hey there Psych2Goers, welcome back. When you hear the word depression, do you automatically think of a downturned face or a person sitting alone in the corner crying? If only it were that obvious all the time to see that something is seriously wrong. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. As a double whammy, that stereotype leads to those seriously suffering depression, sometimes being unfairly called out or slandered for faking depression. When they're seen smiling or leading an outwardly normal life. We're going to look at signs that give away the underlying depression suffered by that social butterfly or straight-A student. The mask may be well-crafted, but it's still a mask and they may well need your compassion and understanding. Let's begin. Number one, their surroundings burn and yet they smile. Think of that dog from the meme. This is fine. Think of the lyrics to that Nat King Cole song. Smile. Smile, though your heart is aching, you get the idea. This is different from the smirk or the grin that twinkles. These are the smiles that seem to not match the rest of the person. Where the smile is curved right, but there's something in the eyes that seems sad. Holding lots of pain. This person is using the smile to bury their real feelings or brush them aside. It's casually named smiling depression. They're the people who have the outwardly seemingly normal, even healthy life, but are experiencing the distrustful symptoms of depression on the inside. As the term smiling depression isn't an official diagnosis, it's more clinically called major depressive disorder with atypical features. Number two, they give constant vague excuses like I'm busy whenever they're invited out. Depression still holds a stigma and truthfully many still are uncomfortable dealing with or confronting that their loved ones have depression. The result is the depressed person feels they need to hide their depressive episode to avoid feeling humiliated or weak or not wanting to be a burden to their loved ones with their struggles. They give the other person a quick vague excuse and then withdraw even more. Number three, everything is a joke and they see themselves as one too. So there's a knowledge by it floating around that indicates many comedians actually suffer from depression. In the light of this sign, that makes sense. People inject humor into their lives for various reasons, but there are different ways that they do it. If it's the kind of joking where they're laughing with others, making everyone feel at ease, or they just have a generally humorous outlook on life, that's not usually the kind of humor that points towards masked depression. It's when the jokes can be really unfunny to a group or person involved that this can be an indicator of depression. One type is aggressive humor. When one uses humor to put other people down to manipulate, ridicule, and offend them. Like the bully who's alleviating their own anxiety at the expense of others. Another type of humor that masks depression is self-defeating humor. One has the inclination to put oneself down to make other people laugh. This is where you put yourself in the position of the butt monkey, almost encouraging others to laugh at you. Both are used to hide one's true feelings from themselves and others. Four, they get her all done during the day and then utterly collapse once they're home. Depression and mental health are pretty personal things. Most people rarely want to disclose their struggles to others, especially to their colleagues or acquaintances. The depressed person already feels pretty lousy about themselves. So they at least want to uphold an image of professionalism being viewed in positive light by their coworkers and other outsiders. So they empty their energy reserves completely into this aspect, leaving nothing for any other part of life. Number five, increased empathy and desire to empower others because they've been there. It could be a case of misery life's company or it could also be an epiphany of I know how this feels. I don't want others to feel this way. Essentially, it's the push to connect with others through this shared experience. Often it's the realization that they need supportive people and people who they can relate to, letting themselves and others know they're not alone. What to watch out for though, is that the skills stay balanced in the realm of support and empowerment to work through the issues and not enabling the depression. Jumping in and fixing or removing obstacles for a person does not help them. Contrarily that keeps them helpless as they don't learn how to deal with the issue themselves. And number six, when straight up asked what's wrong, they always give a vague hand wave excuse like, oh, I'm just tired. Hey, we get it. There are certainly days that run the marathon harder than others and it's normal to feel tired after that. We also know that usually not every day is like that. That proclamation of I'm tired can take a deeper meaning, especially if it's starting to be a norm. When a person is struggling with mental health issues, it's as if they're carrying a huge burden which is likened to a battery that never completely charges. And no wonder, as fatigue and exhaustion is a symptom experienced by around 90% of depressed people. So before happily and wisely stating, oh, that person's just fine, yet you've heard that they're struggling, perhaps take a closer look. You could be the helping hand that makes all the difference. You could be the one who helped someone stop crushing themselves with that mask and truly start on the road to getting better. We all have our dark spots and some of us just need to see that bit of light so we can get out from under. If any of this rang familiar with you, please feel free to comment below. Thanks for watching and we'll see you soon.