When you hear about depression, the first thing that might come to mind is a sad looking face. We often tend to perceive depression as an unhappy feeling, which is true, but is not always the case. There are people out there – maybe someone close to you – who hide their real feelings by putting on a smiling face. Do you do the same thing? If yes, then you could be suffering from Smiling Depression.
Today in this article we are going to be discussing smiling depression in detail.
Let us first understand what smiling depression is and then talk about some of the common things that only people with smiling depression will understand.
If you believe you might be suffering from it, then continue reading because you are not alone.
What Is Smiling Depression?
Medically speaking, there is no such thing as smiling depression. It is not a proper or authentic diagnosis.
But psychotherapists worldwide tend to use the word in order to explain to their patients who try to hide their state of depression from the world by putting on a smile.
Sounds hard to do, right?
Well, thousands of individuals around you might be doing the same thing – you just don’t know about it.
Patients suffering from smiling depression tend to hide their anxiety and stress by faking being happy.
They believe, either their feelings aren’t important or they don’t want to worry their loved ones.
In both these cases, things can get bad because it makes the mental illness hard to spot.
Things Only People With Smiling Depression Will Understand
There are different types of depression, and it makes us behave in our own different ways.
So, let us discuss some of the common things that people with smiling depression tend to do or believe in.
It’s easier to make others happy
According to the experts, mental illness is hard for everyone, but especially for the one who tries to hide it.
You probably spend most of your time focusing on people around you and making them happy instead of working on yourself.
That is because you find it easy to cheer them up than to cheer yourself up.
But remember, you are a person, just like them – you deserve love and support as well.
You feel exhausted all the time
Since you force yourself to hide your feelings from the world all day long, it can be quite tiring at times.
You might feel like the world is weighing on your shoulders.
But that is just your tired brain asking you to stop pretending to be OK because it is only hurting you further.
You need to remember that our bodies are designed only to take a certain amount of pressure.
Over-pressuring them can lead to exhaustion.
So take a break, step outside, see some friends. If you like being alone, then make weekend plans to do whatever it is you like to do, or simply enjoy a long nap in a quiet place.
You feel judged
It is very common for depressed individuals to feel judged, and that everyone around them fails to understand the way you’re feeling.
The truth is, unless you are open about your feelings, your loved ones might find it hard to empathise. Especially if they have never suffered with a mental illness.
They might say harsh things unintentionally that make you feel as if you are not trying hard enough to get better.
So you start to pretend you’re feeling fine to avoid getting judged by them.
It’s easier to pretend to be well than it is to accept you’re not
For others it might sound silly, but you might try to be happy all the time not just for others but yourself as well.
People tend to put on a happy face in order to feel happy.
They believe that by acting happy, they can actually force their mood to change.
It might help at first, but not in the long-run. With time it becomes hard to push down your feelings even deeper.
Instead of understanding the causes of depression you begin to try to solve them by smiling.
Unfortunately, all the hurt and the dark feelings catch up with you at some point and your mood swings from light to dark all too often.
Final Words On Smiling Depression
If you are suffering from smiling depression, you might be able to relate to the above-mentioned points.
You need to understand that you are not alone.
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders at present.
Millions of individuals around the globe suffer from depression every year.
But the good thing is, with the right support, and/or the right medication, you can fight back and work on getting your mental health back on track.
Last Updated on June 22, 2023 by Lucy Clarke
22 comments
Aaahhh…now that you mention it, isn’t this everyone? Very few people ask for help or even know where to start from, asking for help.
That is true, Ntensibe. And that is why more people need to have a better understanding so they can get the right support and work on getting their mental health back on track.
Smiling depression is real and it’s everywhere. People don’t really understand just how common this is. I have tons of friends who have gone through this at some point in their lives. I even struggled with depression for a long, long time, although no one would have ever believed it.
It truly is. And it is really important to spread awareness on this so more people would understand what it is, get the help they need, or better support a friend or loved one who is going through this. Thank you for sharing your insight, Brianne!
Thank you for talking about this. I smile through my depression on a regular basis. People don’t understand that it’s not what we are choosing to show others, it’s what we are working so hard to hide.
Yes! Couldn’t have said it better. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me, Heather. I hope you get much love and support as you go on with this journey.
I love that you’re bringing awareness to something as important as the struggles related to mental illness and mental health. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Emily! I am grateful for your thoughts.
Such an interesting term. It makes me wonder how many of my friends/family members that I think are happy, actually do have depression, but are hiding it. I know I have always tried to put on a good smiling face, when I was going through depression.
So much truth in what you pointed out, Matt. This is why we always, always have to share love and compassion wherever we may be because we never know who is hurting and in deep pain but just putting on a smile on their faces.
This is really helpful and enlightening. I think it’s time for us to openly understand different faces of depression. Thanks for sharing this.
You are most welcome, Toni. I definitely agree with you.
This is so relatable! It’s so much easier to say you’re okay and well instead of trying to explain why you’re feeling a certain way when you can’t even explain it yourself.
Absolutely, Hayley. It is more diffiult when one does not know how to acknowledge and label emotions and so the default is to just say you’re okay. A good start is accepting that all emotions are valid and needs to be processed as well.
Wow, I’ve never heard of the term smiling depression, but it makes sense. Mental health and depression are very important to be aware of within yourself and also others!
Being aware is indeed one of the key things to improve our mental health. Thank you for reading, Stacy. Hope to see you again!
This is the first time I heard about “Smiling Depression.” This article helped me understand more about it. I understand it more now.
I am glad to hear you found this helpful, Emman. Thank you for dropping by!
Wow I’ve never heard this before but talking about depression is serious thing. I’m glad to read this post because I love topic about mental health. this is so really enlightening and eye opening. Thanks to this!
Glad to have helped shed some light on this, Maysz. Thank you for your support in mental health advocacy.
I used to think that I wasn’t depressed because I was still able to smile and fake my way along. And then I realized it was still very much there, I was just hiding. I’m glad I got the help I needed! I hope others are able to see their need and get the help they need as well.
The thing about smiling depression is the tendency to pretend you’re feeling fine, putting on a happy face to trick the brain into feeling happy… I am glad that you were able to get the help you needed, Marie! Thanks for sharing this with me.