You Can’t Tell When Someone Is Struggling?

Recently I saw this trend on Instagram where people where sharing their pictures from the day when they were at their lowest and the template said
‘’You cannot tell when someone is struggling’’ (Pardon me for not using the correct word to word statement because I don’t exactly remembered.)

And while that might seem true because all the pictures that they shared were all smiles I want to add my two cents to the topic. That might be true to some extent but it’s not the entire truth. I don’t believe in this statement because you can always tell when someone is struggling, unless you’re only connected to them through social media and have a very surface level relation with them.

You can always tell when someone is struggling. And no, I am not talking about them posting sad stories on their social media because then you might say in your defense that ‘oh come on, people sometimes love sad’ and yes that’s true. I, too, love sad songs. I am talking about small things that, if you look close enough, are sufficient to tell you that person A is struggling. It’s so much evident but most of the time we don’t stop and look at people with close enough to realise that they are struggling. These things are often small that is the reason most people are not able to tell what is actually wrong with the person or that they aren’t able to sleep at night.

No, their smiles don’t fade. No, they don’t cry their eyes out everytime they are in front of you. But it can be things like not starting conversations in gatherings when they always were the first one to do so. Only talking when asked something when they always liked yapping. A slow walk when all they ever did was walk fast. Not texting first when all they ever did was text you first. Or there are multiple other things that you can see in them. They don’t smile the usual way or maybe they’ll agree to everything you are saying when you know they always had different opinions. Maybe they’ll try to ditch a few meetups but there are people who would rather hang out than stay at home because they know staying at home is extremely suffocating for them. Yes, they might still listen to your yapping session but will stop telling about theirs.

It’s never the obvious things because they know how to keep a façade. But sometimes, all they need is someone to walk right through that façade and help them. And, no, they don’t need a big help, all they need is a big tight hug, a small text telling them that you are there for them whenever they need. So, they know that they can reach out to you. And before you think ‘oh isn’t it a rule in friendship that you always can tell your friends when you are struggling?’ Then let me tell you no! There are people who will never bother you unless they get a hint, even a tiny one, that you are there to listen to them. Because they don’t want to be a burden. If not all, most people think that way. They don’t want to be a burden which is why they struggle in silence.

So, I guess what I am trying to say, is that you can always tell when someone is struggling, unless it’s a stranger.