Have you ever noticed that there is a big difference between the appearance of someone who is mentally stable and someone who is not? It is not uncommon for someone who is mentally unhealthy to have an ill-maintained appearance, and their clothing usually plays a large part in it. There have been studies done on what your apparel says about you, and one thing that your clothing speaks to is your mental health. There are certain commonalities between the wardrobe decisions of those who are mentally unwell.

Clothes that are unnecessarily baggy or that hide a person’s body can be a sign of low self esteem or body image issues. When someone is ashamed of their body, they try to make it as invisible as possible inside their clothes.

If there is no attention paid to the detail of a person’s wardrobe, as in clothes are the wrong size, mismatching or disheveled, this tends to mean that the person wearing them is generally out of control of their life, which could be for a number of reasons, including but not limited to ADD, ADHD, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia or addiction.

When a person has no color in their wardrobe and chooses only plain, dark colors, it can be an indication of depression. Someone suffering from depression resembles someone grieving or mourning, and often consists of colors like black, gray and blue.

This is not to say that a tidy appearance is always a sign of mental health. If someone’s outfit is a little too impeccably coordinated, in color, pattern or otherwise, it can be a sign of OCD. This can also be true of someone whose clothing is never dirty or wrinkled, but always immaculate and pressed, which is a potential sign of germophobia.