Stress? No, not really. No stress. Or maybe. But we never talk about it.

Headache, tense muscles and trouble sleeping? Probably just busy at work right? Because we never talk about it.

Crying, then laughing, then crying? Bipolar tendencies? No, what does that even mean? And we should never talk about it anyway.

Most people like to keep up appearances even if something is wrong. I’m ok with that to a certain extent. After all, would you rather hang out with the person that cries than the person that laughs, even if they are actually both in the same state of mind? Most people would probably prefer the latter. Success in modern society is dictated by the need to be perfect and sane all the time.

However, I think it is a problem when the fake mood fools oneself into believing that there is not actually something wrong, making us perfect and sane, but robots. And I do not understand why people are so secretive. About 1 in 4 Americans have a mental disorder at this very moment so it is very common and some research even suggests that depression is natural, part of our evolution and used as a warning sign:

Sometimes people are reluctant to disclose the reason for their depression because it is embarrassing or sensitive, they find it painful, they believe they must soldier on and ignore them, or they have difficulty putting their complex internal struggles into words.

But depression is nature’s way of telling you that you’ve got complex social problems that the mind is intent on solving.

I can only see benefits from coming out of the mental closet early. As with most things in life, dealing with a problem early makes the burden smaller later. But it is difficult in a culture where “good” is generally the expected answer when asked how everything is going. And as I said, I do not blame anyone for doing this. I just hope that people do not fool themselves into believing it is true if it is not.