So you didn’t make the cheerleading squad again, and your soccer team is on a losing streak. That bad grade on your math test did not help either. Now you are feeling down and it doesn’t seem like anything will ever make you happy again. You are feeling so bad about letting the winning goal in, you feel embarrassed about that cartwheel that looked more like a spasm. You promised your parents that you would get good grades all year so that you could get those new sneakers you saw at the mall. Everybody has bad days or even weeks and gets in a bad mood every once in a while. Some times are more difficult than others to bounce back from a slump, but it is important to keep things in perspective. Learning how to deal with stress and unpleasant situations in positive ways is the key to a happy and healthy well-being.

Joanna seemed to be having a difficult time fitting in at her new school. She missed her old friends and was not making new ones easily because all she wanted to do was go home and talk on the phone to her old friends. Joanna did not feel like she belonged anywhere. Her mother advised her to get involved in sports or the drama club but Joanna was not interested. The students were really exclusive and she felt insecure about being the new kid. When her boyfriend from home broke up with because of the distance factor, she completely withdrew. She would come directly home after school, barely speak to her parents and go straight to her room. Every once in a while she would come downstairs for dinner, but for the most part, she stayed hidden in her bedroom. When her mother did look in on her, Joanna was either sleeping or crying to some sad music playing quietly in the background.

Joanna was feeling worthless because her boyfriend had just broken up with her and nobody seemed to want to be her friend in her new school. She was not involved in any activities and she felt completely alone. In school, all she could think about was the next time she could go back to her hometown and visit her friends. Even that did not sound that great anymore now that her relationship ended. She was in a complete funk for a few weeks when her mother finally decided to get her some help. All of the love and support her parents were trying to show proved hopeless. Joanna would sit and daydream about committing suicide and did not think about the people in her life that did love her and such a drastic action would affect them.

Changing her thinking and sense of self-worth were key in getting a person out of their funk. It is necessary to take action to change a bad situation before it gets too out of control. Developing good ways to deal with pressures and bad situations so they don’t seriously affect your self-esteem and physical or emotional state is helpful. Another crucial factor to consider is medication. When people experience prolonged depression, the chemicals in their brain change. Since the brain is no longer working correctly, medication is necessary to restore chemical balance. Consult a qualified clinician for more information.