High-functioning depression: signs to recognize it

High-functioning depression is not visible to the naked eye. He has the face of that person who does work, who plays sports, who uploads photos to his social networks greeting everyone with a smile. However, behind this apparent normality it masks a type of depression that he can carry for years with quite serious episodes.

There is a very common image that most have in mind when we talk about depression. It is easy to visualize someone lying in bed, with the windows down, and unable to face the challenges that their circumstances pose.. There are few who could think that that co-worker, that supermarket cashier or even our own mother suffers from a type of psychological condition that places them in a state of permanent suffering. Of masked helplessness.

High-functioning depression characterizes people who, at first glance, show normal performance in any area of ​​their life.. They work, they relate, they smile, they communicate… However, they have been carrying a deep discomfort with them for some time. That which is evident, for example, as soon as you get up in the morning.

The first hours of the day have the flavor of rampant anxiety. That where a suffocating pressure is embedded by “power with everything”with “I have to continue being perfect, appear normal, fulfill every obligation.” Sooner or later, these situations end up becoming chronic and lead to major depression.

High-functioning depression: what is it and what symptoms does it present?

High-functioning depression describes what is clinically known as dysthymia. However, it has a peculiarity that differentiates it from the more classic diagnosis: in this case, lack of energy does not appear. The reason for this is that these patients show a high feeling of perfectionism. Holding back or being fallible in some aspect is something they cannot tolerate.

So, someone who deals with dysthymia is able to get up every day and fulfill their obligations. What’s more, sometimes we even have successful professionals and highly competent people who no one would suspect that in their inner being, they struggle with anguish, despair and unhappiness.

Beyond what we may think, high-functioning depression is a serious condition. Sometimes, we can find cases where a person has committed suicide without those around him knowing the reason. No one can explain how someone with an apparently perfect life has opted for such a dramatic exit.

Likewise, we cannot forget an important aspect. Studies such as the one carried out at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (United States) tell us that Dysthymia affects almost 6% of the population. Not detecting it or not requesting expert help will lead to major depression with its serious consequences.

Let us therefore know what symptoms high-functioning depression presents.

Difficulty experiencing joy, excitement and motivation

The person with this psychological condition is capable of expressing positive emotions. However, expressing them does not mean feeling them. Because this type of patient is incapable of feeling that joy of yesteryear, that motivation to achieve goals, to enjoy their hobbies.

And this undoubtedly generates an exhausting ambivalence, because If there is something they need, it is to appear normal, to simulate efficiency, well-being and competence.

Relentless self-criticism

We pointed it out previously. High-functioning depression mainly characterizes people who are very demanding of themselves. They are perfectionist profiles that do not hesitate to criticize themselves for almost any aspect.. They do not allow themselves to fail, doubt, or appear fallible.

Likewise, and if that were not enough, there comes a time when this self-criticism also moves abroad. Finally they end up processing their entire reality as an environment full of errors, irritating, annoying and empty aspects.. All of this increases the suffering even more.

Small things are magnified

That someone is late, that the subway is very full, that our partner has forgotten something, that the children dirty the living room, that there is no hot water… Those little things of the day that you always have to deal with in the best way, are an obstacle of exponential magnitude for the person with high-functioning depression.. Let’s think that he has to overcome it carrying that burden that he drags.

Thus, it is easy for them to react in an oversized way.. They do it with high stress, where far from showing despondency or inactivity, they initiate magnified responses where in many cases they manage to solve these problems, but the psychological cost that it generates is immense. Until they can’t take it anymore.

Use of own coping strategies (ineffective)

The curious thing about this type of patients is that they carry this dysthymia for years, managing it in their “way.” They are aware of their discomfort, their anguish and unhappiness. Nevertheless, Far from seeking professional help, they choose to apply their own coping strategies.

However, They are resources that act as an escape route. They are ways of camouflaging the problem, of displacing it. Hence, they choose to binge-watch their favorite television series, play sports intensely, eat, or even, in the most extreme cases, turn to alcohol or drug consumption.

To conclude, high-functioning depression characterizes anyone who is unable to stop, to become fully aware that they need psychological help. The need to live fast, push ourselves and show that we are effective often hides an implicit reality that is as serious as it is worrying.

The one in which realize that, if we stop, the true reality will emerge: that we cannot with our life, with ourselves, with that depression that we have had as co-pilot for too long. Let’s therefore put on the brakes and ask for expert help. Dysthymia has treatment and we deserve to feel better, live better.

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