There are plenty of ways one can express unhappiness - standing away from the situation, expressing it with your body language, or simply talking about it out loud. And although ‘simply talking about it’ might be the straightest way to find a solution in an uncomfortable situation, we all know that it’s not always so easy; if it were, we’d probably all be so much happier! That said, there are other signs, besides the obvious, that you can look for in a person you care about to see whether they might be feeling unhappy and dissatisfied with something that’s going on in their life. Thankfully, these brave internet people have shared the signs of unhappiness they’ve witnessed in people close to them on this excellent and extremely helpful Reddit thread. So, although it’s not one of our entertaining kind of lists, it is definitely enlightening.
Okay, so to begin with, the Redditors mention some a bit more obvious, though nevertheless often overlooked, signs of an unhappy person. They include but aren’t limited to the person losing any interest in things they used to enjoy, trying to live their life without putting any effort into it, or withdrawing from any social activities. So, if you ever see any of these signs of being unhappy in a person close to you, you might want to start thinking about helping them. Of course, unhappiness and signs of distress might not be as obvious, so these people also mentioned some more subtle signs, like the person delaying their answers to your texts or emails, constantly overthinking the smallest of details, or not sharing any opinions they might’ve expressed freely earlier. Feeling unhappy is definitely a burden and an obstacle, so why not extend a helping hand to those around you if they are showing these signs?
Mental health, as you well know, is extremely important for a person’s overall health and outlook on life. An unhappy person can change, but they often need outside help for that. So, read these signs of unhappiness, and help those around you who might be showing them.
#21
"General apathetic approach to life mostly. Can be perfectly described as feeling: 'Meh?'"
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13points
#22
User №1 said:
"They have nothing to talk about or don’t give any opinions. It’s a sign that nothing excites or interests them."
"They have nothing to talk about or don’t give any opinions. It’s a sign that nothing excites or interests them."
MigraineLass replied:
"Ouch, yeah. Even 'What do you want to eat?' is usually met with 'I don't care,' when I normally love food."
"Ouch, yeah. Even 'What do you want to eat?' is usually met with 'I don't care,' when I normally love food."
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13points
#23
“Dead eyes. When I ran into a friend after leaving my gaslighting ex I told her that we had broken up and why. Her response was, ‘I knew you were being abused. Your eyes were dead but now they are full of life.’”
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13points
#24
"Them joking about dark stuff going on in their life.
I know from myself. At times I wasn’t OK, if I and my friends and were chatting for hours and the topic of the talk have come to our problems I would tell the cause of depression, anxiety, unhappiness, stress, etc. in just a sentence while smiling as if it was funny and in a joking way. They never got the message so in case there are people out there like me, if someone is telling you something that sounds dark but they are laughing or talking really shortly about it, please stop them and ask them to talk more about the topic make them feel like they can open up to you."
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13points
#25
"Looking down a lot and spacing out a lot. And if you ask them how they’re feeling there’s a very high chance they will say “I’m fine” or “I’m ok”. They will be often tired and they might fiddle with something, something like a sleeve of a shirt. That’s all I can come up with now. Hope I helped a bit."
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13points
#27
“They seem too happy, no matter what is actually going on with them. Sounds stupid but I get it a lot.”
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12points
#28
User №1 said:
"They want to be alone often, like travel alone to school and not with friends or something."
"They want to be alone often, like travel alone to school and not with friends or something."
User №2 replied:
"I'd imagine you would look for a signal. E.g. someone who normally walks to school with friends starts biking alone or something."
"I'd imagine you would look for a signal. E.g. someone who normally walks to school with friends starts biking alone or something."
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12points
#29
"There's an important distinction to be made here though, people with even mild social anxiety which is a lot of us may be interested in a lot of things and have lots of opinions, but they just don't dare to say them because of the fear of being wrong or nobody else sharing the same interests. This is especially true while being with a group of more than 4 people. Only the most extroverted people take up most of the space at that time. So it definitely doesn't always mean they're not happy. I prefer to listen to people and just chime in every now and then."
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11points
#30
“Hiding in their clothes (hoodies and jackets, hats pulled down), not participating in conversation much. Not having interests (they’ve given up on all their hobbies) or only having one or two interests (they have given up on almost everything but still need something to hide in).”
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11points
#31
"Apologizing a lot and talking about guilt when they have nothing to feel guilty about. A lot of depressed people have developed strategies to hide the obvious symptoms rather than better coping strategies so it can sometimes be hard to read unless you’ve known that person a long time."
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11points
#32
"Even if this person looks very happy you can easily put them down, make them sad or cry. They become very upset when someone is even a little bit rude to them, they can be very loud and happy at one moment and quiet at another. It's my own experience, I don't know how it works with other people."
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10points
#33
"Just seem gloomy all the time. Also if they bring your energy down and you have to be happy to make them happy."
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10points
#34
“They stop talking about their own lives and only ask about other people’s.”
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10points
#35
"When they ask you what you're doing all the time and are a little pushy because they just wanna talk to someone but never say it straight forward that they aren't happy and that they need some company."
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9points
#37
"Tardiness, especially if they were punctual before. Really any kind of noticeable slippage from good habits can mean a person no longer feels a sense of reward in doing things well. That's a sign of anhedonia, a common symptom of depression."
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9points
#38
“When their social media stories are overflowing with positivity and feel-good, inspirational memes.”
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9points
#39
"The way they talk about others. Unhappy people tend to gossip and compete when it isn’t necessary. They aren’t feeling a sense of connectedness with others, so they aren’t able to fully feel happy for anyone else’s successes or qualities they find to be better than their own."
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9points
