Mental Health

Are You Depressed? Share It On Twitter Through #MYDEPRESSIONLOOKSLIKE

By Sara Gale | Update Date: May 25, 2016 05:57 AM EDT

Depression is one of the serious mental disorders that has been increasing alarmingly through the decades. People suffering from depression often tend to isolate themselves from people and the real world than sharing their problem openly with family and friends. Sharing ones' problems through #MYDEPRESSIONLOOKSLIKE on Twitter now seems to make people open up finally.

While it is well-known that sharing the pain with others helps people to get the required help to recover from problems as well as prevent them from self-harm, people with depression are more likely to ditch the option. A vent out is all that is needed for a person to cope with struggles in life and gain the strength to face the problems as well.

However, now people around the world are sharing their stories on Twitter with hashtag MYDEPRESSIONLOOKSLIKE with an aim to combat the worst kind of mental disorder. As per the data from National Institute of Mental Health around 15.7 million adults including teens in the U.S. were affected by depression in 2014.

"For the most part the message, my message to teens [in treatment] is you're not alone," Mary Alvord, a Maryland-based psychologist and director of the psychotherapy practice Alvord, Baker & Associates, told ABC News. "I think social media platforms, while they can certainly be used in a negative way, they also have the potential to really help."

About 350 million people around the world are reported to be suffering from the disorder where 10 percent of them are youngsters. The disease not only affects a person life and career but also trigger suicidal thoughts in individuals which might end up disastrous. While medications and timely intervention can help in recovery, people should be aware of the depression symptoms as early as it sets in. People should also believe in self-worth and how important is it to be alive.

"I think people assume that [people with depression] go around and talk about how sad they are," said Alvord, who explained that isolation and irritability are major signs of depression that are often overlooked. "Irritability is often a sign with depression that people don't think about. It's often associated with agitation and anger."

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