Maybe it’s a me problem, but a lot of the nurses I’ve worked with throughout my career have been on antidepressants. I have to take 2 just to function and feel somewhat normal. I’ve tried to go off meds and literally ended up having anxiety attacks at work. Just seeing the experiences of other nurses in this subreddit highlight the pressures that we deal with on a regular basis. I just saw a post Reddit (forgot the subreddit) asking about how people manage to work 45 years at a job and I’m genuinely wondering the same thing! Especially related to nursing. How do people deal with the pressure and stress emotionally and physically until retirement? I’m in my early 30s and I’m not sure how I’ll stay sane until retirement.

I’ve had some really bad experiences and when I try to talk about it with other nurses, they shrug it off and just say to let it go. So seriously, how do people cope? The answer can’t just be copious amount of antidepressants, self medicating, and years of expensive therapy. Or just brushing it off and pretending like the stress doesn’t ever get to you. None of those things sound great for long term mental and emotional wellbeing.