Reading Skills for Today's Adults

Tina is a nurse who works at Greenberg Medical Clinic. Her husband died two months ago in a car accident. Her teenage son is having trouble in school. Tina’s clinic laid off three workers last month, so she has more responsibilities at work now. She feels stressed, but she also feels an intense sadness. She is grieving for the loss of her husband. She is worried about her son. She doesn’t know if she can handle her job duties.

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Tina sees patients at the clinic who have clinical depression. They tell her they feel sad for many months at a time. They are worried about many things in their lives—their jobs, their families, money, and the future. Sometimes they cannot sleep well. Some of them are gaining weight, and some are losing weight. They avoid spending time with friends. Tina talks with the doctors in her clinic about these symptoms. She learns that the patients are depressed. The doctors can help them with antidepressant medications. They can give the patients advice for dealing with the stress in their lives.

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Tina decides to ask one of the doctors for help with her own depression. The doctor assures her that he will try to help her. He prescribes a medication for her. He gives her advice on how to handle the stress about her son. Tina begins the medication. She goes to a support group to talk about the loss of her husband. 

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Depression is a mental condition that takes people time to deal with and recover from. Tina has taken the first steps to deal with her depression, and she feels better already.