Making Sense of Mental Health: Rebecca’s Story
Women with Turner’s Syndrome, a disease that affects only women, have a damaged X chromosome. Symptoms include infertility, depression and health problems, such as brittle bones and heart ailments. Rebecca Shaney wasn’t diagnosed with Turner’s until she was 28. When she was 29, she got her master’s degree in French. Rebecca is, in her own words, obsessed with French. She’s always wanted to be a French teacher. She has taught after school and tutored and been a sub, but she’s never landed a full time teaching job. Instead, she’s cleaned offices, washed dishes, and cashiered… and recently, she was on disability for a broken hip. Shaney lives well under the poverty line, but she continues job hunting despite that challenges her depression and other health problems present. For our latest Making Sense of Mental Health story, public raido producer Gregory Warner have Shaney a tape recorder and had her document the week before another big job interview. This is Rebecca Shaney’s audio diary.
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