This is what depression really looks like

Every time a new mental health awareness campaign becomes a "thing," I get very excited. Those who know me know that mental health is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, mostly because I have dealt with anxiety and depression for much of my life; and because many of my loved ones have as well.

I came across this article on Buzzfeed, which was inspired by Time to Change's "Get the picture" campaign. The Get the Picture website raised a point that I had never considered before -- most representations of depressed people in the media look something like this:

(The above picture was the first result when I Google image searched "depressed person")

Get the Picture calls this the "head clutcher" image. The thing is, however, people with mental health problems don't look depressed all the time. The campaign's aim is to bring awareness to this fact. Many people have taken to social media and shared pictures of themselves from when they were depressed.

Interestingly enough, this is a topic that I recently blogged about.

So I'm participating, too. Here are pictures of me from instances when I remember feeling depressed and was trying my best to appear as "normal" as possible to others.

One thing that could help remedy the stigma surrounding mental illness, I believe, is a widespread understanding that depressed does not always equal outwardly sad.
Maybe this would encourage people to always be kind and understanding of others.