I always assumed that if you had a mental disorder and you went out of your way to hide it, it was because you were secretly dangerous or crazy or something. But ever since I got diagnosed with a depression and anxiety disorder, Ive hide it like a zombie bite.
Not because I’m ashamed or embarrassed, I simply realized that most people have no idea how my brain works. I tell them I have depression and suddenly I’m “moody” and need to “change my mindset”. I tell people I have anxiety and suddenly all my worries are “unimportant”.
People’s perspective of me completely changes just because I told them my brain works differently. I’m the same exact person as before but suddenly I’m “unable to regulate my emotions “ and when I’m mad, sad , frustrated it’s invalid.
People judge me for things my depression causes me to do (being late, randomly going quiet, being unmotivated etc) and I gladly let them because I’d rather people perceive me as lazy or stupid rather then depressed.