In novels, authors often use delicate psychological descriptions and contrasting plots to gradually reveal the inner world of characters hiding their depression. Here are some common techniques and extreme behaviors that characters may take: 1. Contrast between hidden appearances and inner hearts • Superficial optimism or strength: The character appears cheerful and able to cope with things in front of outsiders and society, and may even use humor or wit to cover up the pain in his heart. • Inner monologue or dream description: The character's true emotions and sense of powerlessness towards life are shown through inner monologue, flashbacks, dreams and other techniques. 2. Behavioral self-harm and revenge • Self-harm behavior: The character may choose to cut his wrists, deliberately create small wounds and other self-harm behaviors to express his inner pain in a physical way, which is also a silent cry for help. • Impulsive self-destructive decisions: For example, quitting a high-paying but extremely stressful job, making a major life decision overnight, or deliberately destroying the relationship between oneself and others. 3. Extreme self-alienation and escape • Social withdrawal: Although the character can still maintain superficial social etiquette in public, he/she will try his best to avoid intimacy and indulge in loneliness for a long time in private. • Self-exile: The character may suddenly go far away or live in seclusion, escaping the pain in his/her heart by isolating himself/herself from the outside world, resulting in a disconnection from reality. 4. Seeking anesthesia with external substances • Substance abuse: The character may indulge in alcohol, drugs or other substitutes, trying to temporarily numb the feeling of loneliness and pain in his/her heart with external stimulation. • Addiction to extreme experiences: For example, the character will fanatically pursue adventurous sports or illegal, dangerous behaviors to obtain short-term excitement and the illusion of escaping from reality. 5. Sudden violent or self-destructive behavior • Emotional outburst: The long-suppressed emotions suddenly erupt, which may manifest as harm to relatives and friends or venting aggression to oneself, becoming an unconscious emotional catharsis. • Suicidal tendencies: In extreme cases, the inner struggle may reach the brink of self-destruction, becoming a turning point in the plot of the novel, and directly showing the character's desperate inner state through suicidal thoughts or behaviors. 6. Covering up internal friction with a "perfect" shell • The trap of perfectionism: The character may show extraordinary pursuit of perfection in career or study, which wins praise from the outside world on the one hand, but accumulates pressure in constant self-criticism on the other hand, gradually sliding towards the edge of inner darkness. • Slavery of social expectations: In order to meet the expectations of people around them, they often choose to endure and obey, and their inner struggle is gradually suppressed under the collective approval, and finally erupts or self-collapses in an extreme way. In creation, the author can show this internal and external tension from multiple perspectives. By constantly refining the contradiction between the character's inner activities and external behavior, the character can be made more three-dimensional and more resonant with readers. Under different plot arrangements, the character may choose one or more extreme behaviors as an outlet for self-expression, and these behaviors often not only represent a reaction to the depressive state, but also reflect the struggle and pain in the conflict between reality and self-cognition.