Jim Kwik describes high-functioning depression as relentless busyness and productivity rather than sadness or lethargy. Constant activity becomes a coping mechanism for unprocessed trauma. Recognizing restlessness when idle and emptiness without activity are the first steps to addressing what's underneath.
Chapters
You mentioned this high-functioning depression. They're very productive. How is stress playing part of that? I want people to understand the science of their happiness. So someone who has clinical depression may express the depression like can't get out of bed, crying, pessimistic. But other people experience symptoms of depression and they express it completely differently. Rather than acknowledge their symptoms, they become busy. They are restless when they sit They are empty when they have nothing to do. So what do they do? They work, work, work. What I found was that many of these people have unprocessed trauma. There are negative things that happened that they are trying to busy themselves to distract from. You don't just avoid things, you avoid emotions, you avoid memories. And so when you have unprocessed trauma, your way of avoiding processing the trauma is busying yourself. And this is how people express their pain who have high-function depression. Only when you understand your signs can you then start to fully utilize the tools that every person has in their DNA for joy. We're all born with the DNA, the genetics to create joy. We forget how to access it.
