Kylie Rancor
Living through a pandemic has been rough on a lot of people, and starting to come out on the other side of it has presented its own series of shocks and challenges for others. As such, it may very well be more important than ever to be on the lookout for signs of depression and suicidal idealization among your loved ones.
Those signs look different for everyone, and may not even present similarly in the same person at different times. And while consulting with professionals is always a good idea, people on Reddit are banding together to share the less obvious “cry for help” warning signs they’ve learned to keep an eye out for based on their own life experiences.
For more information about suicide prevention or to speak with someone confidentially, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (U.S.) or Samaritans (U.K.).
Here are some of the more common ones:
1.
Some people become very quiet and docile, like if they’ve resigned themselves to the minimum.
methyltheobromine_
2.
Excessive drinking when they usually don’t.
MostOriginalNameEver
3.
Sleeping all day and having no interest.
AeBS1978
4.
Giving a lot of personal possessions away without wanting anything in return.
tehlmehowyareelyfeal
5.
saying “i’m sorry” for everything, or taking the blame for things that shouldn’t even have a blame.
cute_oranges
6.
I’m my experience, becoming easily angry and argumentative has been a sign.
ActuaryBA
7.
Bad decisions looking for short term happiness with no regard for how it will damage their life in the long run.
PM_UR_REBUTTAL
8.
Lack of interest. Gamer all of a sudden no longer games? Gardener let his plants die? Social butterfly now hides in a cave?
MrCellophane999
9.
When they start cutting off contact. That outgoing, happy person suddenly “Just isn’t up to it,” or “Maybe some other time,” then something is wrong.
driving_andflying
10.
A reduction in food consumption. I’ve found when I’ve fallen down the hole and I just stop caring anymore I don’t eat anywhere near as much as I normally do.
funland8642
11.
It may seem a bit obvious, but when someone says that they don’t see themselves living past a certain age, or acting surprised that they made it to a certain milestone in their lives.
nickgio19
12.
Sudden drastic improvement in mood of a depressed person, it could be a sign they have a plan to commit suicide and feel better because they know it’s gonna end soon.
More_Example6153
13.
When someone has obviously been crying or tears up without apparent provocation, even in a very public setting, it can be a sign that they’re in too much pain even to try masking it.
FlourChild1026
14.
When someone is constantly busy so they don’t give themselves time to think. Also when someone gives up on a lot of basic things like cleaning or doing washing up because they can’t think about anything except what’s bothering them.
Platonus44
15.
Second hand suicide, when they joke about being killed in an accident. This is usually because they feel there are people in life who need them and they don’t want to commit suicide themselves.
Makenna_Chadwick
16.
Purposely avoiding sad and difficult topics. Sometimes when a person is constantly feeling like shit the last thing they want to do is bring up more negativity when hanging out with people they enjoy being around.
sunnyrubberboots
17.
Reaching out and being overly nice to friends both close and casual with the hope that they will reciprocate and eventually ask them how they’re doing, so that when they open up it’s not about being a burden but because they were prompted to do so.
Zestyclose-Pea-3533
18.
The person stops caring about their appearance and neglects their hygiene and grooming, because in their mind they are thinking: “that it doesn’t matter since no one likes them anyway, that they don’t deserve to be clean or that it won’t make their lives better, so why bother.”
Bottom4MePlease