What is “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 is 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 the life you want to live, that is what having trouble functioning means. The good news is there is help out there that can help get you back to being who you want to be.

Stay tuned for future posts on different treatment options which may work for you. How do you relate to trouble functioning?