“Smile depression” is a type of depression, a new depressive tendency that mostly occurs in urban white-collar workers. Because of the need for work, face, etiquette, dignity and responsibility, they spend most of the day with a smile on their face, this “smile” is not from the heart of the true feelings, but a burden, and over time become emotional depression. The habitual smile does not eliminate the stress, worry, and sorrow of work and life, but only allows them to accumulate more and more depression and pain.
“Smiling depression” is more dangerous than ordinary depression. Generally speaking, people with “smile depression” deliberately hide their emotions in order to maintain a good image of themselves in the eyes of others. When the pressure is so great that they can no longer bear it, their reaction is also huge, and they may change from an extremely confident person to a very low self-esteem person, and even doubt their own abilities in all aspects. This is when it can lead to not only mental illness, but possibly both physical and mental illness.
“Smile depression” is when reason overpowers feelings, and when they are suppressed to a certain point, they rebound, and this can lead to neurological damage. Once the nervous system fails to function well, the endocrine system becomes uncoordinated, leading to a decrease in immune capacity. In this case, the person is then prone to stomach problems, cardiovascular disease and other seemingly physical illnesses. These smiling depressed people, after “smiling” will fall into deeper loneliness, isolation and extreme depression. In the end, it’s all about the stress that modern people are under due to work or other reasons that they can’t get rid of.
“Smile Depression” test
1. Please rate the items that match your mood: none=0; mild=1; moderate=2; severe=3 (multiple choice)
Do you feel sad or miserable all the time?
Do you feel like the outlook is bleak?
Do you feel worthless or think you’re a failure?
Do you feel overwhelmed or lament that you are no better than anyone else?
Do you beat yourself up about everything?
Are you indecisive about making decisions?
Are you in a constant state of anger and resentment during this time?
Have you lost interest in your career, family, hobbies, or friends?
Do you feel down in the dumps and unmotivated to do things?
Do you think you’ve aged or lost your charm?
Do you feel a loss of appetite? Or can’t help but overeat?
Do you suffer from insomnia? Or feel drained and lethargic throughout the day?
Have you lost interest in sex?
Are you constantly worried about your health?
Do you worry about your health a lot?
Scoring criteria: all questions answered, add up to get a total score
0 to 4: No depression
5 to 10 points: occasional depression
11 to 20 points: mild depression
=”TEXT-ALIGN:left;TEXT-INDENT:2em”>21 to 30 points: moderate depression
31 to 45 points: severe depression and needing immediate treatment
Compulsive smiling? The dangers of being shot in the back
There is a steady, rapid growth in the hidden manifestations of smile-like depression. With the fast pace of modern people’s work, many visitors feel very depressed and sad deep inside, but appear as if nothing is wrong on the surface. When bad emotions accumulate to a certain level, something will definitely go wrong. This not only leads to psychological disorders, but in the long run, it can also lead to physical disorders.
1. Driving people to desperation: The most serious harmful consequences are the emergence of self-harm and suicidal thought behaviors in patients. The depressive state of mind causes depressed patients to be negative and pessimistic in their thinking, always immersed in self-condemnation, low self-esteem, and pessimistic and desperate about the future.
2. Constant physical torture: The harm is not only in the damage to mental health, but it can also bring about very many physical symptoms. For example, loss of appetite, weakness, etc. These physical discomforts can involve various organs, and symptoms of autonomic dysfunction are more common. The physical symptoms in depressed patients are often untraceable and mostly nonspecific, making them difficult to localize, but they do not necessarily exclude physical illness.
3. Persistent dysphoria: A common aspect of the dangers of depression is that it causes the patient to experience the most distressing and harsh state of mind. And this pessimism appears without obvious external causes, so it is very difficult to solve, so that the patient with depression is always in a pessimistic and miserable mood. On the other hand, depression and anxiety always come together, represented by menopausal depression, and these patients with depression not only have a depressed mood, but also have inexplicable nervousness, panic and anxiety.
4. It destroys the spirit: The second aspect of depression is that it can turn a normal person who is full of energy into a dull, dumb person all day long. In addition, depressed patients have no interest in anything around them, no enthusiasm for work or study, and their thoughts are slow to reflect, and people who are normally neat and tidy become unkempt.
5. Deprivation of sleep: Patients with depression often have persistent sleep disorders in the form of insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, early awakening, disturbed sleep patterns, and poor sleep quality.
The Great Healing Prescription
1. Sports therapy
Sports therapy is the best way to treat “smile depression” if a person can keep exercising for half an hour every day. Then, even if one has depression, it will soon be reduced. This is because exercise gives a feeling of relaxation and autonomy. Being physically active effectively clears emotional stress, and being physically fit guides the person’s nervous system in a good direction.
2. Pull off the “fake mask” of a smile
Since this depressive tendency is due to the white-collar “smile credo,” pulling off the “fake mask” of a smile may be the best way to help yourself. It’s important not to see smiling as the solution to everything, but to adjust the way you think about people, to be real and sincere, and to realize that truth is the most vital.
3. Let bad emotions transform
Regulate and vent in time The first thing you need to do is not to bury your depression in the bottom of your heart, but to give it an outlet, and to find a way to untie the knot where it is.
4. Establish a psychological support system
including friends, family, and counseling professionals, etc. If you are depressed, you can “talk to them” and seek psychological help. If you are under too much stress and have limited mental capacity, you will need specialized counseling or treatment.
5. Look at the relationship between life and work from a different perspective
In With the new modern way of working, lifestyles and values must also be adjusted. Happy work is necessary for a happy life, but remember that everything is meaningless if life is not happy.
6. Dietary treatment
Eat more fruits and vegetables. This is because the vitamin B contained in many fruits can relieve tension. Such foods are bananas, pears, cherries and apples. You can also eat more beans, grains and cereals, vegetables and fruits, reduce the intake of red meat, avoid stimulating drinks such as coffee, strong tea and wine, and eat less spicy and hot things such as chili, mustard, pepper, garlic, onion and ginger.