Introduction:
Smiling depression is a term doctors use to refer to a person who smiles but has a hidden depression. These people look happy from the outside, but internally they will suffer from symptoms like hopelessness and sadness. As they do not show signs of depression, they fail to get the necessary treatment.
What Is Depression?
Depression is a common but serious medical illness that affects a person’s thinking, feelings, and behavior. It causes sadness and a loss of interest. It may lead to physical and emotional problems that may decrease the ability to perform at work and at home. Depression is associated with feelings like sadness, lethargy, and despair.
What Is Smiling Depression?
Smiling depression is when someone has depression inside and looks very happy from the outside. Their social life appears to be perfect or normal to others. It is not identified as a clinical diagnosis, but can likely be diagnosed as a major depressive disorder with atypical features.
The smile and the external facade are like defense mechanisms in smile depression. Suicide may be one of the threats to treating depression. Hence, people affected by smile depression should not be left alone.
What Are the Symptoms of Smiling Depression?
These individuals affected with smiling depression appear perfect from the outside but usually suffer from the inside and they show distressful symptoms of depression. Depression shows symptoms differently in different individuals.
The most important symptoms include,
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Deep, prolonged sadness.
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Altered appetite.
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Weight change.
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Disturbed sleep.
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Tiredness or fatigue.
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They feel hopeless and face a lack of self-esteem.
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Feel low self-worth.
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They lose interest in activities they used to enjoy before.
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Altered mood swings.
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Intrusive thoughts.
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Feeling anxiety.
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Thoughts of death.
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Trouble concentrating and making decisions.
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Avoiding social situations.
Some of these symptoms or all of them may be seen among individuals affected by smile depression.
Though these symptoms are present inside them, they may appear like,
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Individuals with high functioning and active.
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Some individuals with a steady job, good family, and social life.
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Individuals with cheerfulness, optimism, and happiness.
These individuals think if they show hidden symptoms,
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Others may think these are weak.
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Others may get burdened due to their feelings.
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They think they are fine.
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They think that others are facing still worse situations, so there is no point in telling them.
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They think the world would be better without these individuals.
One of the remarkable symptoms of depression is low energy, but in smiling, depression energy levels are not affected. They may experience low energy levels when they are alone. The risk of suicide is more among these individuals.
What Are the Risk Factors for Smiling Depression?
Some of the risk factors include,
1. Big Changes Occurring in Life: Changes like a failure of a relationship and the loss of a job may trigger smiling depression.
2. Judgement: Some individuals may experience physical symptoms rather than emotional symptoms. Some cultures or families will have a stigma. They teach that showing emotions is like seeking attention, and they think of it as weakness or laziness. If someone tells these people to get over the situation and try to overcome themselves will make them not discuss the situation in the future. It is common in men. People who think that others judge them will not show the symptoms or share them with others.
3. Social Media: Many or all are using social media. Some of them want to share only good with the world, and they keep silent during the worst situations. This creates smiling depression.
4. Expectations: Everyone will have expectations from others as well as about themselves. When others are unable to meet their expectations, they tend to hide their feelings. People with perfectionism tend to be at more risk due to their expectations.
What Are the Conditions in Which Smiling Depression Can Be Seen?
Smiling depression can be seen in many mental health conditions like,
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Major depressive disorders.
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Substance or medication-induced depressive disorder.
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Depression is caused due to any other medical condition.
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Seasonal depression.
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Persistent depressive disorder.
How to Diagnose Smiling Depression?
Since the symptoms of depression and smiling depression are similar, the diagnosis is difficult. Another aspect is that people are not aware of their depression and do not seek help. If a person thinks he is depressed, he must seek help. The first medical professional is to be consulted for help, and later, they may send the person to a mental health professional.
To be diagnosed with major depressive disorder, a person should experience the symptoms continuously for at least two weeks.
How to Treat Smiling Depression?
Treatment of smiling depression is similar to that for major depressive disorders.
These include,
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Medications: Antidepressants may help reduce symptoms by balancing certain chemicals in the brain like serotonin and other neurotransmitters.
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Psychotherapy: These include talk therapy, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. These techniques modify the thought pattern and help change the mood and behaviors.
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Combination of Both of These: Combined with both techniques may give good results in some people.
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Lifestyle Changes: These include having nutritious food, doing regular exercise, which increases the release of endorphins which helps relieve depression, and avoiding substance abuse may help relieve depression and smile depression.
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Light Therapy: In this therapy, a light box is used, and bright light is used to treat the seasonal affective disorder.
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Stress Management: Techniques to manage stress may help reduce symptoms.
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Electroconvulsive Therapy: It is a safe and controlled procedure used when other techniques cannot solve depression.
Conclusion:
Smiling depression is a condition where affected people suffer from depression but do not show it outside the world and mask it behind a smile. Suicide is one of the threats to smile depression. Hence, it needs to be known about its symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment. Knowing this helps an individual to seek help from a healthcare professional early. Early diagnosis leads to effective treatment. This in turn helps in achieving a quality and healthy life.
