Quote:
Originally Posted by chasing2
Social stigma surrounding depression and other mental conditions is still too high, whether we are in America, Europe, or-worse- in Asia. I have become, perhaps unconsciously, very good at dissimulating my condition to the people around me, with the result that I started to lack the motivation to get out of it. In my experience, disclosing this condition to your friends or family sorts no effect whatsoever, it only adds to your disappointment and isolation, when you realize that nobody could care anything about how you feel, let alone doing something to help or support.
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I agree. And disclosure often has a negative impact on how people perceive you and interact with you. I have found that it is better just to pretend and smile at people. An additional downside to that (for me) is that my internal world and self are completely divorced from the outside and other people. I expend a lot of energy (that I no longer really have) on maintaining the "self" that I show others. Trying to bridge the gap only seems to make things worse, and eliminates any shelter or safer place, however tenuous. What people know, they will use against you, so it is better to keep them guessing. At the very least, they have no empathy or understanding, as you say.