SAMPLE CONVERSATION ON DEPRESSION (model your class dialogues on this sample)

Sample Conversation on Depression
This is a sample conversation between two students
discussing depression using a special vocabulary.

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ANGELA. Nancy, you saw the video on Michael Osmond's suicide, which puts another face on depression. You can be a child of the rich and famous and still get depressed.

NANCY. Right, Angela. He jumped from a high-rise. Depression is a common disorder. Some people only reluctantly admit to feeling depressed, so they delay treatment to relieve their symptoms.

ANGELA. What kind of treatment are you talking about, Nancy?

NANCY. There are several resources open to depressed people, apart from a more radical option, such as electroshock therapy. They can take prescription medication. Or see a psychotherapist or other mental health professionals. These are all resources available but often ignored. Just like drug addicts go to rehab, so depressed people can seek help too, which may lead to insight into their depression, and relief.

ANGELA. But some depressed people only reluctantly seek help. Yet in the video Dr. Real pointed out that treatement for clinical depression is a success story 90% of the time.

NANCY. And failure to treat depression can be devastating to everyone, especially to family members and close friends.

ANGELA. So it pays to be alert to the signs discussed in the video, though we know that some suicides come out of the blue.

NANCY. True, there are warning signs like lack of concentration, mood swings, food disorders, lack of interest or the MAD BAD SAD symptoms discussed in the video, especially factored with their duration.

ANGELA. You mean like acting out or suddenly withdrawing from others for too long a time. These can be indicators that may lead to teen suicides. You know teens have different ways of handling depression depending on their sex.

NANCY. That's right, Angela. Boys tend to show outward signs and girls tend to suffer inward, like ruminating over a failed relationship.

ANGELA: Besides these general signs, what do you think might have caused Michael's suicide?

NANCY. Adoption for one. We know that Marie Osmond, his famous mother, was an adoptive mother. Michael was an adopted child. So adoption issues can be troubling, especially during early adulthood. Michael may have had trouble dealing with it. He was a college student with a high GPA but still suffered, maybe over his adoption. With a wealthy mother, financially he had no worries. Most of us don't know where our tuition money will come from next year. Michael was free of those worries but had other issues.

ANGELA. And that led to his tragic end. That's why many of us shake our heads when we read stories like that.

NANCY. Well, children of famous people can often be at greater risk of depression or other psychological disorders. They have to work so much harder to come up to their famous parent's achievement.

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