Discussion How does one successfully hide their depression?

[overwhelming]

Hello, I've been lurking for a while and I've finally come around to making an account.
The issue is, I've been overwhelming my partner every single day with my constant sadness, and I know it's been impacting him negatively, and my family as well, and so I really want to ensure that I can hide my negative emotions, and not show them physically either as best as possible. I need to stop any urges of letting all of my sad thoughts out. Any tips from anyone in hiding, perhaps?

I just want to keep my loved ones content, I don't want anyone to worry.

Thank you :)
With much love, o

 

[BigLucs]

Ah my area of expertise. Faking it is really quite easy. Once you get used to it you can start fake being outgoing too. Helps make friends.

Learn from happy people around you. Watch how they carry themselves. Practice smiling in the mirror. Make sure that you look carefree. A pained smile never looks good and people will notice it. Laugh a lot. It makes you seem funny and no one thinks funny people are sad. People also LOVE to have their jokes laughed at. Stroke egos slightly so people like you but not so much that you're patronizing. Focus the conversation on how other people are feeling. Most love to talk about themselves. If you're asked say something generic like "living the dream" or "No complaints, wbu." Don't forcefully move the conversation from yourself but just edge it away. It gets hard to keep up appearances if people ask too many questions because you can get caught in your happy lies, until you've gotten used to it.

Don't make the changes all at once. People will notice. Just take a minute and think about how you'd act if you actually were happy and then start making the changes. After a while you get so used to it you don't even have to try. Make sure you vary your responses to questions so that you don't seem like you're on autopilot too much. If people ask you how your day was and you just say good day after day, they might start to suspect. Just practice the above and you will be a friendly neighborhood robot in no time :).

 

[overwhelming]

Ah my area of expertise. Faking it is really quite easy. Once you get used to it you can start fake being outgoing too. Helps make friends.

Learn from happy people around you. Watch how they carry themselves. Practice smiling in the mirror. Make sure that you look carefree. A pained smile never looks good and people will notice it. Laugh a lot. It makes you seem funny and no one thinks funny people are sad. Focus the conversation on how other people are feeling. Most love to talk about themselves. If you're asked say something generic like "living the dream" or "No complaints, wbu." Don't forcefully move the conversation from yourself but just edge it away. It gets hard to keep up appearances if people ask too many questions because you can get caught in your happy lies, until you've gotten used to it.

Don't make the changes all at once. People will notice. Just take a minute and think about how you'd act if you actually were happy and then start making the changes. After a while you get so used to it you don't even have to try. Make sure you vary your responses to questions so that you don't seem like you're on autopilot too much. If people ask you how your day was and you just say good day after day, they might start to suspect. Just practice the above and you will be a friendly neighborhood robot in no time :).

perfect. thanks for the advice.

 

[randomz]

pretending to not be depressed is tough, I know that. It hardly ever works for me but I still keep trying. If you set your mind to it though you can follow BigLucs' advice and everything should be ok for you. I wish you luck in pretending and also wish you to actually find true happiness soon.

 

[who doesn't matter]

I had a friend who mastered this art quite well. He was depressed, maybe more than I am but he always wore this slight smile and Bingo! The perfect mask.

 

[Heavy]

Ah my area of expertise. Faking it is really quite easy. Once you get used to it you can start fake being outgoing too. Helps make friends.

Learn from happy people around you. Watch how they carry themselves. Practice smiling in the mirror. Make sure that you look carefree. A pained smile never looks good and people will notice it. Laugh a lot. It makes you seem funny and no one thinks funny people are sad. People also LOVE to have their jokes laughed at. Stroke egos slightly so people like you but not so much that you're patronizing. Focus the conversation on how other people are feeling. Most love to talk about themselves. If you're asked say something generic like "living the dream" or "No complaints, wbu." Don't forcefully move the conversation from yourself but just edge it away. It gets hard to keep up appearances if people ask too many questions because you can get caught in your happy lies, until you've gotten used to it.

Don't make the changes all at once. People will notice. Just take a minute and think about how you'd act if you actually were happy and then start making the changes. After a while you get so used to it you don't even have to try. Make sure you vary your responses to questions so that you don't seem like you're on autopilot too much. If people ask you how your day was and you just say good day after day, they might start to suspect. Just practice the above and you will be a friendly neighborhood robot in no time :).

I keep thinking of "Smile and wave boys" when I see your reply.

 

[lonelyhouse]

This song gives good advice. I listen to it almost every single time I have to deal with people.

 

[draw a circle]

I just act like nothing is wrong. I complain sometimes, admit when I'm feeling sad, and even seem listless some days, but because I talk a lot and likes to eat I try to talk about things I like (even if I'm not as interested as I used to be) and eat regularly. Nobody has any clue that I might be depressed. If you can remember what you usually do when you're happy, just replicate it. I think of the world as a stage. We just be performing out here.

Would be good if we can just be happy normally though....

 

[Thinking]

I try to mimick the emotion of the person I am with. So if they are excited, I get excited with them. I actually try to convince myself that's how I feel, it's easier to lie if you believe the lie you are telling