Mental health counselor Jeffrey Meltzer sees clients nearly every day who suffer from “high-functioning” depression, so he decided to post a video about it on TikTok. He struck a nerve. The video now has more than 8 million views and more than 5,000 comments.

“This describes me to a tee,” one wrote.

“Does it go away at some point?” another replied.

“Can someone tell me how to fix it?” wrote a third.

Meltzer, who meets with clients in-person and virtually in Bradenton, Fla., said it’s not always obvious if someone suffers from depression. “There’s a myth” that somebody with depression can barely get out of bed in the morning, he said. “They can function, they can go to work, they can do all these things. But deep inside, they’re feeling really down, they’re feeling quite empty or lonely.”

The response to Meltzer’s video is “a huge signal about unmet mental health need,” said Jon Rottenberg, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida who has studied the course and prognosis of depression.

The term high-functioning depression “is really resonating with the fact that depression can be quite hidden,” Rottenberg said. “People can harbor it for a long time before they get help.”

High-functioning depression is not a diagnosis or a recognized clinical disorder, and it doesn’t appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the authoritative guide to mental health disorders.

Exactly where the term started isn’t clear, but “high-functioning depression” is a popular topic on TikTok and YouTube that attracts millions of viewers. It gained traction on social media in 2022 after Cheslie Kryst, a former Miss USA, died by suicide. In statements to the media, Kryst’s mother said her daughter was dealing with high-functioning depression, “which she hid from everyone.”

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