10+ Photos That Prove Depression Looks Nothing Like Most People Think
How does a depressed person look like? While most of us would picture a defeated person with emotional and physical signs of a problem all over, in reality, it’s way more difficult to notice.
As part of September, the National Suicide Prevention Month, the Instagram was filled with the incredible stories of people overcoming depression, alongside the heartbreaking accounts of families who lost their loved ones without a warning.
Grouped under the hashtag #faceofdepression, these stories uncover a more complex reality, in which depression is as elusive and hard to notice as in the case of Linkin Park singer’s Chester Bennington, who kept the suicidal thoughts to himself until the very last moment.
Talking about it can do wonders, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is there for you or someone you know who needs urgent help. Call 1-800-273-8255 or go to their official website to live chat with a counselor.
(h/t: boredpanda)
#1
Image source: selfloveclubb
#2
Image source: TalindaB
#3
You can’t tell can you? You can’t tell by the look in my eyes or the sound of my voice even. You’re thinking “You’re smiling though!”
Yes. Yes, I am smiling. I smiled for you. I smiled so I don’t make you feel bad. I don’t want you to feel like I do. I also don’t want you to feel like there is something you can do to make me “feel better”.
There isn’t anything anyone can do. I have to work through it on my own. The worst part is that this bout snuck up on me. I recognize the familiarity of it all though.
Empty
Lonely
Heavy
Tired
So tired
Everything is loud
Everything is annoying
I have no patience
I want to be left alone
I want to stay in bed
I don’t want to work out
I want to eat everything without cooking anything
The best part is that I haven’t felt like this in a very long time AND that I recognize it for what is. I’m the one who bakes and does crafts. You see that on the outside but you don’t see the darkness inside.
For those that are also suffering….PLEASE SEEK HELP. Treatment is different for each person. Do what is best for you. I’m doing what works for me while I get back to Monique. So for now – I smile, and let people know I’m struggling.
Image source: Monique Holley-Peak
#4
My daughter as well. The night before she ended up in the hospital they went to the daddy daughter dance and had an amazing time. Thankfully she’s still alive today and learning to beat her illness. She was 8 at the time
Image source: Rayna Gawel
#5
Image source: selfloveclubb
#6
This is my son, right before going to his computer to look up how to properly hang himself. Two days later he followed through.
Image source: Tasha Bernstein Collins
#7
This is my boyfriend two weeks before hanging himself. Will never understand it…
Image source: Agnieszka Ostrowska
#8
This is depression in our home. I tried to hang myself in my attic when the board broke and I broke thru the ceiling alerting my family. I fight every day. My husband tries his best but can’t break through. I don’t understand it. I don’t know why I can’t get rid of it. I have a wonderful family. I feel selfish, lost, sick and angry at myself. My brain has always been a little scrambled and I’ve fought just to make it thru school, I can’t keep a job. I can’t stay in task long enough or I take too long. I leave before I get fired. It’s hard to feel worthless and I hate feeling like a burden to my family. I have so much pain inside. I’m in therapy I have meds. All I know is even though I feel like suicide would make life easier for my family, I also feel like if I could just get my head fixed and could be someone worthy, I really would like to stay around. I have been trying for so long I don’t know if it’s gonna happen for me. Today I am here. We will see how tomorrow goes tomorrow. I take it day for day and some times hour by hour. Sometimes i think If I can get through one more hour I’ll go to bed and I’ll sleep til tomorrow and see how it goes. Today has been ok. I’m trying to find something good today to give hope for tomorrow. Today I try.
Image source: Zoe Vanmeter
#9
My #faceofdepression and yes it is possible to be depressed with a child.
Hearing, “You don’t have a reason to be depressed with her around” doesn’t do shit but make me feel worse about myself
Being told, “All you need is exercise and a good diet” just makes me want to throat punch you even though you’re coming from a good place
Depression keeps you from doing things you want to do because it’s literally a chemical imbalance in your brain.
Image source: Brittany Schroeder
#10
Image source: selfloveclubb
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Got wisdom to pour?
Depression is very tough to detect sometimes. I know personally for me I wasn’t able to properly express how I was feeling at the beginning. I wasn’t sure if what I had was depression because I hadn’t yet been properly diagnosed. I have a blog about this stuff at http://www.helpadafund.com
Depression is very tough to detect sometimes. I know personally for me I wasn’t able to properly express how I was feeling at the beginning. I wasn’t sure if what I had was depression because I hadn’t yet been properly diagnosed. I think it’s important to talk to a therapist in order to help you figure things out. I have a blog about this stuff at http://www.helpadafund.com
I suffer from chronic depression related to my adhd and these posts really nailed it. Outwardly, im a gentle, smiling guy but my self-esteem is incredibly low and these posts showed you can seem normal and happy outwardly, but still have the hopelessness inside, just buried, until you are alone with yourself and can really feel how you feel with no-one to patronize you.