From The Depression Project: are there unconscious habits that mask your mental health?
The Depression Project has a terrific e-mail list where they share mental health tips
Have you heard of The Depression Project? As explained on their website, the company began as a page on a certain social media site that shall not be named. it was stared by “Australian brothers Danny & Mathew Baker - Danny having suffered from depression from 2008-2012, and Mathew being a professional counsellor.” The duo sought ways to share their “passion for depression and mental health.” This evolved into regular social media posts, a website, books, and online courses, all with the goal of helping “people with depression better understand what they're going through, and feel less isolated, alone, and misunderstood.”
Many of their services require payment or subscription — it is a business after all — but The Depression Project still shares for free many helpful tips and infographics. You can sign up to their free e-mail list to receive these regular posts.
One of the recent e-mails I received from them was this:
When you have depression, our friend, there are certain things that you may not realise you're doing.
So, in today's email, we'd like to share a few of these things with you - in order to help you better understand how depression may be affecting you.
Are you ready?
✳️ Hiding in your phone in order to escape from your thoughts.
✳️ Delaying doing your chores for days or even weeks at a time (because when you have depression, even doing the "little things" can be extremely overwhelming and exhausting).
✳️ Withdrawing from things you once got a lot of pleasure from (because depression can take the joy out of everything).
✳️ Breaking down over the "small things" that go wrong (because when you have depression, you're dealing with so, so much that it only takes something little to make you "snap").
✳️ Avoiding talking - or even thinking - about the future (as this can feel too overwhelming and confronting).
✳️ Texting late at night to not be alone with your thoughts.
✳️ Re-engaging with something that gave you comfort when you were a child (such as an old TV show).
If you can relate to any of the above behaviours, our friend, then please know that you are not alone, and that we're sending you lots of love, strength and encouragement ❤️❤️❤️
All our love,
Danny & Mathew Baker,
Co-founders of The Depression Project.
Can you identify with any of these unconscious habits? Awareness of what we do to mask our mental health is very important.
Here is one of the recent infographics received via the e-mail list:
I believe for anyone who is dealing with mild to moderate mental health issues such as anxiety, stress, and depression, resources such as these from The Depression Project can be helpful. However, I also strongly suggest these are not a replacement for professional treatment, particularly for individuals with more severe symptoms.