What Does It Mean to “Have Trouble Functioning”?

Getting help for symptoms of depression can be tough. Sometimes it might feel like an easier way would be just seeing if it goes away on its own. There are good reasons not to wait.

Having adolescent depression can mean:

• having more health problems when you are older and missing work because of them
• worse grades
• more risk behavior like drug and alcohol use or having sex before you are ready

These problems all mean that you may have trouble functioning because of depression. Most people consider having health problems, using drugs and alcohol, and having worse grades and risky sexual behavior as a problem. But what does “having trouble functioning” really mean to you?

Its important to remember that this is all relative. Think about what is important to you—or about what a life worth living means for you.

Maybe you want to be able to play basketball with your friends, focus on getting an art project done, not fight with your sister, and go to school without getting a headache. If depression is keeping you from being the person you want to be and having the life you want to live, that is what “having trouble functioning” means. The good news is there is help out there that can guide you back to being who you want to be, and we want SOVA to be one of your reliable go-to resources.

What does it mean to you when you think you have trouble functioning? What do you do to help yourself during those times?