Smiling Depression —Here's How To Know If You Have It



Although “smiling depression” isn’t a clinical diagnosis, for many women, it's a real problem. Typically, smiling depression occurs when individuals who are experiencing depression mask their symptoms. They hide behind a smile to convince other people that they are happy.

This type of depression often goes undetected because when most people imagine a depressed individual, they think of someone who looks really sad or cries a lot. And while it's true that sadness and unexplained bouts of crying are common characteristics of depression, not everyone looks sad when they’re depressed. You won’t find smiling depression listed in the official diagnostic manual for mental disorders. But it’s a very real condition. Mental health professionals use the term when you’re depressed or anxious but look and act happy. If you have smiling depression, you might tell others that you feel fine and power through your daily activities as usual. So your family and others may not realize you may need help.

What is Smiling Depression? Smiling depression involves appearing happy to others and smiling through the pain, keeping the inner turmoil hidden. It’s a major depressive disorder with atypical symptoms, and as a result, many don’t know they’re depressed or don’t seek help.

People with smiling depression are often partnered or married, employed and are quite accomplished and educated. Their public, professional and social lives are not struggling. Their façade is put together and accomplished.

But behind the mask and behind closed doors, their minds are filled with thoughts of worthlessness, inadequacy and despair. They’ve usually struggled with depression and/or debilitating anxiety for years and have had some experience with therapy or medication.

Many don’t disclose their depression due to fear of discrimination from loved ones or employers. Oftentimes, I am the only person in this individual’s immediate circle who is aware of how he or she is feeling on the inside.

Depressed People Rarely Smile

Some people with depression may try to hide the signs from others, or they may not even realize that they have depression. Although the typical symptoms of depression, such as sadness or hopelessness, can be easy to recognize, there are symptoms that may be less obvious.



Feeling down is a normal part of life, but when emotions such as hopelessness and despair take hold and just won’t go away, you may have depression. More than just sadness in response to life’s struggles and setbacks, depression changes how you think, feel, and function in daily activities. It can interfere with your ability to eat, sleep, work, and enjoy life. Just trying to get through the day can be overwhelming.



Some people describe depression as having a feeling of impending doom, others feel lifeless, apathetic, and empty. Women in particular can feel angry and restless. However you experience depression, left untreated it can become a serious health condition. But it’s important to remember that feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are symptoms of depression.



No matter how hopeless you feel, you can get better. By understanding the cause of your depression and recognizing the different symptoms and types of depression, you can take the first steps to feeling better and overcoming the problem.



Symptoms of depression sometimes is easy to spot, disinterest in things you used to love, an attitude that can change at the drop of a hat, a desire to eat all of the foods or none of the things.



Sometimes you can't see depression, not on the grounds that it's not there, but since it's concealed. You can feel all of those depressed feelings, yet at the same time appear for work and your family and your companions with a grin all over.

That is what's known as "grinning melancholy," which, tbh, sounds irrational, This is what you have to think about "grinning misery," including what to do in the event that you think you have it, and how to get help.



Why You Hide Your Depression

It's not uncommon for people to keep their depression private. From wanting to protect their privacy to fearing judgment by others, there are many personal reasons why people hide their symptoms of depression. Here's a closer look at why people keep depression a secret.



Suffer From Embarrassment

Some people believe depression is a character flaw or a sign of weakness. They may even believe the lie that they should be able to "snap out of it. When they cannot, they think there's something wrong with them. Consequently, they may feel embarrassed about having depression because they think they should be able to handle it themselves.



Have Unrealistic Views of Happiness

Social media portrays happiness in an unrealistic way. Many people scroll through social media and see pictures of happy people. Consequently, they grow to believe that they’re the only ones struggling with mental health issues. They may feel more isolated than ever and it could cause them to hide their struggles.



Struggle With Guilt

Because guilt tends to accompany depression, people don’t feel as though they should be depressed. They might think they have a good life and shouldn’t feel bad. They also feel like they must be doing something wrong or that they're somehow to blame for being depressed. Consequently, they feel guilty and sometimes even ashamed of their depression. So they keep it hidden behind a smile.



What precisely is "grinning sorrow"?

Individuals with grinning sadness regularly veil the manifestations they are encountering. They can get up every day, get dressed, appear for work, and keep on interfacing with others in a manner that gives a false representation of how severely they are feeling inside.

How do I know if I have smiling depression?

There's no single answer here, however there are a lot of signs and side effects to look for. In case you're feeling completely depleted toward the finish of consistently and have no clue why, You might complete a great deal of enthusiastic legwork to battle through your dejection. Here's a couple of physical instances of how that may look:



It requires genuine exertion for you to get up toward the beginning of the day, do your cosmetics and hair, and get yourself to work. Once there, you can assume the job of upbeat representative, however you may feel vacant and detached while taking an interest.



Hidden signs of depression can include appetite and weight changes

Eating too little or too much can suggest the presence of depression. People turn to food for comfort, while others lose their appetite or eat less due to low mood. These changes in food intake can cause a person to start gaining or losing weight. Dramatic weight changes can also exacerbate depression, as they can affect a person’s self-esteem.

There may also be physiological factors at play. For example, there is a link between carrying excess fat and increased inflammation in the body. This, in turn, may play a role in the development or increased severity of depressive symptoms.



You can control through your work day, effectively adjusting a financial limit or dealing with a homeroom of kindergarteners, however you battle to keep up your center; when you at long last return home, you're so depleted you disregard all your own duties and fall into bed before supper.



Forced happiness. Sometimes, people refer to hidden depression as “smiling depression.” This is because people who hide their symptoms may put on a happy face when in the company of others. However, it can be difficult to keep up this forced happiness, so the mask may slip and a person may show signs of hopelessness, sadness, or loneliness.



Your self-care has completely dropped off the graphs. You spend so much vitality staying aware of the absolute minimum that you're skipping exercises, settling on undesirable nourishment decisions, and avoiding welcomes to hang with your companions.



You're always encountering a cycle of negative feelings, by either feeling blame or disgrace for inclination down, or by censuring yourself for being lethargic when you can't muster the nerve to accomplish something.



Loss of concentration. When a woman trails off during conversations or loses their train of thought, it can indicate issues with memory and concentration, which is a common symptom of depression. These difficulties with concentration and focus can worsen the social impact of depression by making work life and personal relationships more challenging.



You fiddle with something many refer to as "uninvolved self-destructive ideation," which implies you aren't effectively intending to end your own life, yet you don't feel irritated or upset by the possibility of kicking the bucket abruptly.



If you have a smiling depression, what should you do?

It is difficult to determine exactly what causes smiling depression, but low mood can stem from a number of things, such as work problems, relationship breakdown and feeling as if your life doesn’t have purpose and meaning.





Someone with smiling depression might officially be diagnosed with depression with atypical features. For instance, looking happy isn’t typical of someone who feels depressed. But just like other types of depression, smiling depression is treatable. Treatment may include talk therapy, medication, , and lifestyle changes such as exercise and diet



First off, try to dismiss any thoughts of blame, shame, or guilt associated with the idea of depression. About seven percent of Americans of all ages suffer depression every year. There is zero reason to feel embarrassed about saying you have it, or that you need help.



Secondly, making an appointment with your mental health professional for a thorough evaluation if you’ve noticed symptoms lasting most of the day for a minimum of 2 weeks. Being officially diagnosed with depression and knowing which category of it you have is important to finding the right treatment.





About the treatment, that’s your third step. Thankfully, you have several options: therapy, lifestyle changes, and medication. You can pick and choose from those three or do a combination of all of them.



Lifestyle changes involve paying attention to your sleep, diet, and exercise habits, while medication usually involves taking a selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), like zoloft, paxil, or prozac, which can give you a much-needed boost of mood-improving serotonin. And as far as therapy goes, cognitive behavioral therapy is a solid choice. The Doctor will teach you how to manage your thoughts and behaviors to improve your overall mood.



Meditation and physical activity have also been shown to have tremendous mental health benefits. In fact, a study done in the US showed that people who had done meditation and physical activity twice a week experienced a drop of almost 40% in their depression levels only eight weeks into the study.





Cognitive behavioural therapy, learning to change your thinking patterns and behaviour, is another option for those affected by this condition. And finding meaning in life is of utmost importance.





The cornerstone of good mental health is having purpose in life. We shouldn’t aim to be in a “tensionless state”, free of responsibility and challenges, but rather we should be striving for something in life. We can find purpose by taking the attention away from ourselves and placing it onto something else. So find a worthwhile goal and try to make regular progress on it, even if it’s for a small amount each day, because this can really have a positive impact.





Create awareness to de-stigmatize mental illness Many woman struggling with smiling depression are perfectionists, or they don’t want to appear weak or out of control. The more we can shift the conversation to show positive role models living with depression—those who advocate for the mix of therapy, exercise, medication, sleep, diet—the less shame and stigma will be associated with it.





Whatever treatments you choose, the key is to get help, both professionally and from trusted family members or friends. Like any other health condition, it will take time to feel better, but relief can be found.

Working on a day-to-day basis on developing a sense of self-compassion for not being at your best is an important step toward feeling better. Know that the condition is highly treatable and take the steps to reach out for help.



Summary

Smiling depression seems to be more common in human with certain temperaments. It is linked to being more prone to anticipate failure, having a hard time getting over embarrassing or humiliating situations and tending to ruminate or excessively think about negative situations that have taken place.



