How to know when your friends have high-functioning depression

Not everyone who looks happy is happy. Sometimes it is the funniest person in the room that is the most depressed.

High-functioning depression is not a formal diagnosis. If anything, it is just a variation of depression where a person is depressed, but they do not appear so.

Depression is a mental condition that causes you to feel immense sadness and lose interest in life activities.

When someone has high-functioning depression, most people see it as someone who effortlessly cares for other people, but they might be doing that because they feel unworthy of receiving the kind of love they need.

You might notice that a close friend of yours is a high achiever, always sleeping in the office, taking up other people’s jobs, but what they might be hiding is that they feel like they do not fit into that workspace or they do not deserve to be there. This is called imposter syndrome.

Someone with high-functioning depression might always be busy from morning till night, never taking a break.

Those long hours working are just a distraction. They are running away from facing their thoughts and scared of the sadness they will feel when left alone.

A person might be all jokes and smiles but deep within they are finding it difficult to express themselves. They might have just experienced a tragedy, and you see them going on with life as if nothing happened. It could be because they are numb and can’t process their emotions.

It is important to check up on our ‘happiest’ and ‘liveliest’ friends and find out how they are. Sometimes, a good cry can be very therapeutic.

High-functioning depression is a tipping point; once full, it all comes pouring out and this can lead to self-harm and suicide.