 Depression is known as a silent killer because it causes so much pain to the individual, but it's invisible for people to see on the outside, especially if the individual hides it well. We'd like to help get rid of some of the stigma and educate others about ways people hide their depression. So let's begin. 1. Using Laughter and Humor Remember the time you made a joke about your pain and laughed about it with your friends and it made you temporarily feel better? Sometimes depressed people use humor as a defense mechanism and fake being happy on the outside. Making jokes and making people laugh distracts the people around them from seeing that they're falling apart. 2. Isolation and Excuses If you find your friend consistently giving weak excuses to not come over, they may be hiding their depression. But don't take it personally. Depression takes away your desire to do the things you love and to be around people, so they hide away. Most people are hard on themselves and sometimes getting out of bed is impossible and basic hygiene practices are neglected. We judge and compare ourselves to others harshly and we come up with elaborate excuses sometimes so that we don't have to socialize. Because then we would have no place to hide our difficult and taxing emotions if we were around other people. 3. Alcohol and Substance Abuse People suffering from depression might be turning to alcohol and other mood-altering substances on a daily basis. It definitely has the potential to escalate into addiction and ruin their lives and those around them as these patterns become more frequent. A journal article by Wilsnack, Wilsnack Encounter stated that alcohol use disorder can occur alongside depression, especially in women. They partake in alcohol and substance abuse to numb their pain and the reality of what goes on in their minds. Being in their own head can feel like being in a prison and these coping mechanisms ease their pain, raise their mood and remove them temporarily from their anguish. According to statistics, only a small percentage of you who watch our videos are actually subscribed. If you're not subscribed yet and you enjoy what you see, do consider hitting the subscribe button. This encourages YouTube's algorithm in promoting more of our mental health content to more people out there. 4. Being Cheerful Around Others In contrast to the point about isolation, some depressed people are actually socially active. Whether it's online with their social media presence or in real life with their strangers, families and friends, they are a ray of sunshine and seem quite bubbly and outgoing. They compliment people and are fun to be around. Of course, some people are genuinely this way, but others are forcing themselves to be more cheery and bright to offset and hide any darkness and hopelessness. They get to momentarily hide from it themselves. 5. Anger An interesting fact in how depression manifests in people, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, is that men are usually more aggressive and have misplaced anger while women are more prone to display sadness and be more withdrawn. This however is not set in stone, as people are more complex than that and can obviously hide many things including mental illness. Anger is another defense mechanism that depressed people use to close themselves off from other people. It creates a distance between them and others so that they don't see that underneath the anger is sadness. 6. Hiding distress by focusing on other people and other things A depressed person's inner world sucks. There's a lot of misery and they feel trapped so they might hide by turning all of their attention away from the pain by distracting themselves with the outside world and focusing outwards. They will be readily available to help those around them or even complete strangers. They'll focus on anything but themselves because the pain and turmoil are too much to bear. They'll create never-ending to-do lists and immerse themselves in others' lives to not have to face their own negative thoughts and feelings. This is another way to detach themselves from their depression because in a way, by being so generous with their time, energy and even finances, they get to be someone and somewhere else. 7. Minimizing pain and deflecting from it We often say, I'm okay, or I'm fine, as social pleasantries during small talk. It's not always true but we don't really have the time to know more, especially with how busy we are and how we feel the compulsion to be somewhere and doing something. People who hide their depression keep a lot of things to themselves so saying, I'm okay when they aren't is a usual practice to deflect from their pain and to stop people from asking any more questions. Did you see any of these signs in anyone else or maybe do you see some of them in yourself? Struggling with depression is exhausting and emotionally draining and because of the current stigma that comes with it, people will hide it to protect themselves. If you notice any changes similar to these in loved ones, let them know that you're there for them. If you are struggling, please reach out to a qualified healthcare provider or mental health professional. Getting in touch with the right person can be a great first step to getting back on track. What are some things you've learned, what's something you wish to learn more about? What has been your experience? Write them down in the comments and as always, thank you so much for watching. We'll see you in the next video.