Depression, Anxiety

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Responding to a greeting:

Sorry if this has been asked/covered before.

How do you respond to "Hi, how are you?" or one of the variants?

Do you straight out lie and say you are "okay"?
This will avoid an unwanted discussion.

Cheers

It depends on the context, if you and a friend are buying coffee in a cafe and about to sit down for a chat, then they'll be ready for the long answer.
If the console operator at the servo says it, then it's all "fine thanks".
And don't feel bad for "lying" with your answer, the " fine thanks" is more of a formality when you connect with an unknown person in a civilised society.
One of my answers is
" it's been one of those days"
It avoids the illusion of perfection, but allows the other person to empathise, as we all have those days.