I decided to write about depression not because I am an expert at it but because I have a personal experience with it. I have come head to head with depression several times in my life and sometimes I didn’t even know that it was depression which is worse.
I will not be telling you my life story today, may be some other time but I will at least share a thing or two that could help you or you could help someone who is going through depression.
I would love to share with you today the seven signs that if you see happening with your friend, someone you know or anyone that’s close to you then you should take action.
The next article will be about what to do when you see these signs happening. There could be more signs but I will be telling you about the ones that are more relevant to our society and times. As I have said before I am no expert so expect fewer professional terms in here but rather the ones you can relate to. Enough with the foreplay lets go to the signs now, that’s why you came to read this right?
They Cut Off Communication with Almost Everyone
One feeling that almost everyone who is depressed feels is that they are not worthy of anything good from anyone. So, they decide to stay as far from people as they can because staying with people to them is like adding salt to their wounds.
People will just remind them about the emotions that they want to suppress. When you realize that someone with whom you had a very active communication with is cutting you off you should probably be alerted and try to find out what they are going through right away.
It might not be depression but what if it is? You could be helping saving someone’s life. Its easy to think that the person is just ignoring us and being human beings, we will probably ignore them back. But before we are sure we should definitely try to reach out to them and find out what is really happening with their lives.
They Never Want To Talk About It
Being depressed is not something that you can be proud of. It is not like you just found your dream job and you will be going around singing about it to everyone.
Sometimes you don’t even want it to be depression, you wish it was something else but its not. So, when people start asking you about what you are going through you never want to tell them anything by the way it doesn’t seem like they can help you with it.
So, if you find out that something is off with your friend and when you ask them what’s wrong, they hide it or pretend to be fine then that’s a smoke, something is burning within. Don’t give up on them, I will tell you in the next article how to get them to talk to you about it.
Some Will Disappear Online
Our world today is deeply immersed in social networks and almost everything is found there. People post about their success more than their failures. You may not get to see what they have been through that was bad.
This fact that people post mostly about their success will probably make someone who is going through a depression avoid the social networks for a while because they can’t find something or someone to relate to.
If your friend was very active online but then they disappeared without any clear information about why they disappear you should try to find out the real reason.
I remember doing this myself and I felt like it helped me because most of the things that contributed to my pain and confusion were avoided by me staying offline. It doesn’t matter what reason they give you if you are a real friend you will understand that they are going through something and they need help.
Some Will Start Posting Suspicious Things Online
One of the things that are so revealing that were not here five years ago are the WhatsApp statuses, most people literally post everything about their lives on their WhatsApp statuses.
So, if you are paying just little attention to what they are posting you can notice when they start posting suspicious things. I have specifically said “some” because not everyone will do this remember I said they never want to talk about it.
You will understand this point better when you read the next point. So, if your friend falls to the group that posts suspicious things on their statuses then you should run to help them.
Some Will Be More Desperate For Love And Attention Than Normal
Desperation is something that most people will judge but please don’t. the next time you meet a desperate person you better show them love than judge them.
My point here is not to give them what they want because sometimes it’s not something that’s good for them but to give them what they are missing deeply inside and that’s love.
Now for those who have been used to being the center of attention they become more and more depressed when they miss it and this in turn creates their desperation which adds to more depression. I will talk more about helping this kind of a person in the next article which will be covering the “how to help” part.
They Lose Motivation For Work Or Studies Or Life Itself
If you look closely you will always notice if something is missing. During depression nothing seems to be important to you because you don’t even think if you at all are important.
Now you lose appetite for almost everything and you wish you had nothing to do or work for. Most times you do have something going around in your life be it work, school or just life itself and once you lose motivation for these nothing will seem to be going and that will only add to your depression.
So, if it’s a friend or just someone you know is displaying lack of motivation then it’s a sign of a bigger problem laying underneath which needs to be addressed.
They Give Up
Well depression that isn’t dealt with will most probably lead to suicide. If you read my articles and you have read one of my articles titled “the suicide note” you will realize that the guy in that story that committed suicide did that because of a bigger problem laying underneath.
Giving up is usually the last sign and you might not be privileged to see this may be just its outcome. So, I think its better to take action in the early signs before we get to this one.
I have given you seven signs but there could be more than that, maybe you have been through a depression and you know a sign or two that I haven’t written here please do share with me and let’s discuss about them together.
Also, if you know someone who is in need and you don’t know how to help or that person is you and you think you need to get out of it please don’t hesitate to reach out. I don’t have answers but I am sure we can find them together because I have been there too.
Reach me through this number 0629932210/0769610217 or just recommend it someone who needs it. You can also write me an email at [email protected].
As I have said before I am no expert but just an observer who thinks (I overthink sometimes) and find a way to put my thoughts into writings.
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This post was previously published on Change Becomes You and is republished here with permission from the author.
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