Depression Support Group
Depression is a real and debilitating condition that is often misunderstood by family and friends. Its meaning can range from a prolonged period of sadness to an actual mental illness with specific symptoms. Find and share experiences with others who are going through the same struggles.
Don't!
I remember telling someone in my life: get real, or get lost.
What is 'wearing a mask' even? Being fake? Pretending to be something you're not?
If nobody loves you when you're wearing a mask, maybe it's because they hate masks?
I certainly hate masks. I can handle anything so long as it's real. Can't handle fake for ten seconds. Just want to punch it in the face. - And you can BET your sweet ass that I can tell when someone's fake. Tell it a mile off.
Be yourself. Be who you are. Okay don't cry in public. No... go hide in the loo and cry. But learn the difference between hiding how you are feeling and protecting your privacy. Between faking happiness and merely being neutral.
When I was young we were taught a thing called politeness. Politeness is the middle ground between friendly happy licky bouncy puppy, and giant hate filled stomping butthole. Polite is that line where I do you no wrong and so you must do me no wrong. It respects its own privacy. it respects its own feelings. It owes no explanations, no justifications.
If you find that place in yourself, live there. Then there is no mask required. Be true to yourself, but be respectful of your feelings and your soul. Be kind to your youth, punish yourself for unfairness or cruelty, and only those two things.
Live in that space. It'll give you room to survive. :p
There are days when my depression is very bad, and I am really wallowing in it. On those days I really need to put on the happy mask and make it through the day. Because there are times when promises I've made need to be kept, and my depression must take a back seat.
There are people who are able to help me when I'm depressed, but the can only handle about 50% of my max load, so I need to be careful not to overload these precious friends. Hence a different mask.
But there are the golden few who really get it. And with them no masks are required.
There's a difference between being fake, and being respectful of one's own privacy. Putting on a mask to me indicates falseness. And listen to the complaints: "I put on a mask and feel nobody knows me" well you'd hope they don't. "I have to hide behind my mask" well no, you don't.
Going to work and being professional is not the same as being fake. Being respectful of others is not fake. Understanding that the person you are talking to might have terminal cancer but is still standing there being polite to you, is where I'm coming from. You don't know their business. They don't know your business.
But if each has respect for the fact that the other may HAVE business, that works.
We all have problems, but keeping them private isn't fake, and isn't a burden to bear. It's a right and a duty to ourselves. It keeps us going.
Being polite and professional in a professional setting is not the same as wearing a mask. If you wear a mask, and pretend to be utterly cheerful you will PAY for it in private at home later. You will pay through the nose. Because you will be in energy deficit. You'll crash.
That's not wearing a mask.