Aves Scenario B
This is Layla, your best friend! One of the things she enjoys the most is sleeping. She loves sleeping early, be it a school day, weekend or holiday. She is also very cheerful, calm, and is one of the slowest to anger out of the many people you met.
However, for one week now, you noticed that she's always online at 12 midnight and is not asleep, which is very unusual.
What Layla is displaying may actually be a sign of depression - trouble sleeping! This is especially since Layla likes to sleep early (vs is forced to sleep early), it may be an early sign that Layla is experiencing depression, although it does not show as more obvious symptoms as in Scenario A. In such cases, it's always best to check in with the person!
Although it may seem like there is nothing wrong at first, since Layla normally likes to sleep early, this actually hints that she may have trouble sleeping. This is one of the less obvious signs of depression, but still hints at a possibility that she might have depression. In such situations, it's always good to check in on the person just in case she has such symptoms, and if she's been feeling very down recently.
Layla harshly texts back, “Why do you even care if I am still awake? I just have trouble sleeping all of a sudden, it’s not like I can control it”. You find it strange that she snapped at you because she's normally slow to anger. The next day, as you are interacting with Layla, you realise that Layla is strangely irritable - she snaps back at you whenever you ask her a question and seems to be keeping to herself. You think that she might just be stressed, but this continues for the next 2 weeks
Are you sure this is the best option? At this point, Layla has actually displayed 2 possible sets of unusual behaviour: sleeping late (which may be because she is having trouble sleeping), irritability, and fatigue. These are signs that Layla might be having depression. If she actually has depression, the symptoms may escalate into serious problems like having self-harm thoughts!
After showing your concern a few times, Layla tells you that recently, she lost her grandmother as her grandmother got a heart attack. She was very close to her grandmother. Unfortunately, due to abruptness of her grandmother's death, she did not get to say goodbye to her grandmother. Thus, she has been feeling very down for the past few months. Recently, she’s also started to have trouble sleeping and gets irritated easily. She tells you that she's been getting tired very easily, and feels unmotivated. This convinces you that she has a high possibility of having depression.
Actually, many people get confused with this! Remember: as depression is a medical condition, it has to be clinically diagnosed by a psychiatrist/medical professional. Thus, you cannot be the one to tell Layla that she has depression although it may already be quite obvious to you, it has to be certified that she has depression by a medical professional! As she is not diagnosed with depression yet, it is also a bit too early to immediately tell her to go for therapy. In this situation, it is more suitable to first get her diagnosed.
The counsellor referred her to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed her with situational depression, a short-term, stress-related type of depression. She tells you that she feels more sad and stressed upon her diagnosis, and feels scared for her upcoming therapy session.
Although situational depression does not sound like a medical condition, it actually is a medical condition, and is still a form of depression! The symptoms of situational depression and clinical depression (or major depressive disorder (MDD) - the one avery has) are just as real and serious. (Curious to find out what their differences are? Continue on with the game!) Layla also needs a lot of support to overcome her depression!
Well done you! After a few months of therapy and your continuous support, Layla is starting to cheer up, and she even told you she has less trouble sleeping now!
So what's the difference between situational depression (the one Layla has) and clinical depression (the one Avery has in Scenario A)? Situational depression is a short-form depression which develops after a traumatic event or change in someone's life. On the other hand, clinical depression, major depressive disorder (MDD), is more of a mood disorder, which has no identifiable "cause" and is "more severe". The type of depression one has will determine the type of support/help she'll get. There is also another form of depression known as high-functioning depression (HFD). The person with HFD also experiences severe feelings of sadness, but the symptoms are on a less severe level such that she/he/they is able to lead a relatively "normal" life. However, because of this, it is not recognised as a clinical disorder. The struggles the person with HFD faces, however, still affect them and if you know of someone with HFD, it'll be great if you can offer some support to them!