Can people tell you're mentally ill just by looking at you?

Can they tell you have depression/crippling anxiety just by looking at you?

Attached: 1437757737511.jpg (192x185, 7K)

Not at a glance. Someone who knows you very well and is very attentive and aware of your emotional state could maybe figure it out, but it's not always obvious.

Some of them can.

Usually no, unless your anxiety causes panic attacks or otherwise make you remarkably twitchy. Or maybe if you get crying episodes where other people can see due to your depression or lose/gain significant amounts of weight, people might start to suspect something.

What about "the dead in the eyes" or resting tired face or any of the other things?

Do you have a Terry A Davis look on your face? No? Then you're probably good.

My anxiety levels have increased lately for some reason and my friends have definitely noticed. I don't think it's so much a look so much as what you say/how you behave. I get a little obnoxious volume wise and hyperactive, so that is visible to people

I don't think so unless there is a noticeable change for the people close to you to see, and even then, as someone who has been depressed and knows people who are it can be hidden so it's not always noticeable.

That's just adulthood. It happens to everybody.

Yes, it sucks because it means you don't even have a chance at normal interaction.

I remember when I was in University and every day was lonely and extremely depressing, sometimes people would make comments to me in passing to smile or something.

I had been quite depressed like that for 4 years or so, so I thought I could hide it well enough. I guess there's just a look that you can't hide. My resting face and posture changed a certain way over that time I guess.

I think that people can see it. It's not easy to hide even when you try your best.

Nobody can diagnose your situation just from looking at you.
I have really bad anxiety so I shake like hell and rarely make eye contact. A lot of people probably just think I’m an autist though kek.

I think most people can tell by looking at your posture, facial expressions, where do you direct your look and by the way you talk/walk.

By they way they walk you can but give a person a picture for face value you cant.

no stop thinking this shit

Some do but that's just because they're fucked in the head too. Most likely psychopaths.

i honestly think people can tell there's something wrong with you. i notice people looking at me like i act really weird, which i do, and i don't really hide my depression eyebags. but they usually come to different conclusions than mental illness, which is worse.

Mentally ill is a very broad definition.

You've got your barely autistic dudes who can look perfectly normal. You've got your psychopaths and sociopaths that'll just look grumpy all the time. Then there's the barrels of lard who drool and shit on the street, and literally everything inbetween. I'm not even gonna get into disorders that actually mess with how you move or control your body , those are a different beast altogether.

So OP, what's wrong with your brain?

Generally speaking though, if you just think you look weird, you can train posture and correct walking, and never worry about it again.

People in my old group of friends always joke (as a mean to mention it) that I was "crazy", or "weird". I don't think it was because of the way I looked, but because of how, and what, I spoke: I had the habit of never taking things seriously "enough", and on my up, manic days I would be the happiest, goofiest guy on a room. So the legend built, we grew older, I kinda quieted down with life and life moved on. After many years I arranged to meet old "friend" since I was in town. We went for a tea for a few days, and one day we were in this quiet bar in the outskirts of the city when "coincidentaly" a friend of my "friend" shows up too. "Oh, she's so-and-so, she's a psychologist." Cool, no problem, I have no quarrel with the social sciences. Sudenly every conversation was about things I had previously told my "friend" sometimes as self deprecating humor, sometimes as hyper-realism comedy. I was even asked what animal I would like to be!

I felt like my old "friend" wanted to reassure herself if I was still nuts or not so she organized this accidental meeting. I felt stigmatized and untrustworthy. I dodged many incisive questions and probably came out as a very untrusting individual, but still talked of course and tried to have a good time, anyway I'm not afraid of any soft science bar table diagnostic - I do care, however, about misunderstandings and without-context speculation and analises.

All this to say to (you) OP, don't indulge in those kinds of introspections. Know what society wants and expects of you and make an effort. If you don't make an effort to be "normal" people might treat you with he same carelessness you treat yourself, society seems to reciprocate in the same measure. Otherwise becomes "everybody's fault but your own" and you'll corner yourself in a place where you self-stigmatized so hard you will stop being able to enjoy a completely harmless night out with some "friends", and end up by chucking them away all toghether.

How the fuck can you 'correct walking'? I don't know what's wrong with my gait but people sometimes stare at me. I guess it may be because I'm tense but they sometimes stare even when I'm not so I'm paranoid. Also I think I have forward head posture but the people I asked usually say I stand even too straight so I just don't fucking know.

That cuts really deep. I've done that in the worst of my depressive phases

When I'm walking in the streets alone I can't even look to the people anymore because all that I see makes me more depressed an miserable. Either I watch normal people doing normal things: young people full of illusion and meeting with friends and girlfriends, people eating in restaurants with friends or family, families with their kids, etc. or I watch thing that make me think about my possible future: people loving in the streets, people asking for money, old and lonely people...

When I'm walking in the streets I just watch to the floor or where there is no people like 80% of the time.

And about your question. People can figure out tha I am depressed 100% because my face is totally destroyed and miserable. Maybe they think I'm just sad that day, but people definitely see that you have a problem just looking your facial expression. I notice all the time how people stop looking at me or avoid me because they sense there is something wrong with me. It's normal that they think that sometimes, like when I'm alone just resting in a park, totally bored.

lolyes

But we can tell that you are “mental”.

I find that some can hold it together for about ten minutes and the crazy starts to come through.

It’s about levels of craziness.

Depends on the severity of anxiety. I don't think depression is noticeable though. Sometimes people ask me what's wrong out of blue though.

Facial features and mental illness are often correlated so yes.

Possibly not, but you will almost certainly give off body language cues that a person may be able to pick up on
t. nervous wreck