A Patient Reports Having Feelings of Hopelessness and Anxiety for the Past

A patient reports having feelings of hopelessness and anxiety for the past few months.The primary care nurse practitioner (NP) performs a history and learns that these feelings occur almost daily.The patient also reports having headaches and difficulty concentrating at work along with wanting to sleep all the time.The patient has gained 5 lb in the past 6 months.The NP should:

A) tell the patient that these symptoms should resolve on their own.
B) reassure the patient that these are symptoms of minor depression.
C) tell the patient that an exercise regimen alone should be effective.
D) assess the patient for alcohol and drug use and for suicidal ideation.