Learning about depression

• Scott LaMar
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

Silhouette of woman sitting in bed by window

Airdate: March 07, 2023

In July 1972, U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton was named as Democratic Presidential nominee George McGovern’s running mate. Rumors swirled almost immediately about Eagleton’s medical history. Three weeks later, Eagleton resigned from the ticket admitting he had been treated for clinical depression, that included electroshock treatments. In the 50 years since, depression or any hint of mental illness was enough to sink a political candidate or someone in a position of authority.

That is until Pennsylvania’s newly elected Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman sought treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Fetterman has been lauded by some for coming out publicly about his depression and criticized by others for not being forthcoming and transparent with voters.

Major depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in the U.S. An estimated 21 million adults, approximately 8.4% of U.S. adults, experienced at least one major depressive episode in 2020, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health.

On The Spark Tuesday, psychologist Dr. Ashley Milspaw, defined what clinical depression is,”In order to have a depressive disorder, clinical depression, you need to have at least five of these symptoms over a two week period. So at least ten days, So. From time to time. We all have a bad day, one or two bad days. To be clinically depressed it needs to affect your work, your relationships, your life in a significant way in order to become a full blown disorder. And real quickly, these symptoms are anhedonia, which is lack of pleasure in things you to take pleasure in. So you feel kind of depressed. Most of the day feeling sad, empty or hopeless, a second symptom is diminished interest. Anhedonia, which I just mentioned, you can either eat more or eat less. You can sleep more or sleep less. And that can also vary from individual to individual. You may have insomnia and or sleep 2 hours on a Tuesday and then your sleep in 14 hours the next day on a Wednesday that can also go back and forth. There’s some physical symptoms, so you might have brain fog fatigue, feel restless, but not able to focus on anything. A diminished ability to think, concentrate, focus, make decisions, and then also thoughts of death. Or dying. So some suicidal idealtion, be that active or passive. And so all of these symptoms together.”

Psychologist Dr. Jonathan Gransee, talked about whether genetics play a role in depression,”There is a fairly common scientific thought that there is a genetic component to depression. I look at it in a maybe more complex way where genetics maybe sets the stage for things that then can create depression or I’m not sure I would agree that it’s directly because they have a particular brain cell, you know, that is coded for depression. I think that certain people are born with personalities and then they go through certain things in their early life that kind of direct or emphasize a particular part of their personality that then ends up causing all sorts of problems when they interface with the world, which then can result in symptoms such as depression or anxiety or whatnot.”

Gransee added,”And they also have a parent who’s depressed, they’re going to teach you how to be depressed. If you have a parent who has PTSD, they’re going to teach you how to have PTSD.”

Dr. Milspaw was asked how depression is treated,”It is most often treated with therapy and medication. The most recent research that I’m aware of is you want to do therapy and medication. What I personally like to recommend for individuals is to try 8 to 10 sessions of therapy first, because we know we can do psychoeducation on exercise your diet because we’ve got serotonin receptors all throughout our body and a lot in our gut. And as we all know, if we feel sick physically, we get depressed, we get sad. So if and then if things are not significantly improved after eight or ten times of meeting, then I recommend okay, let’s see what other what other supports we have to bring in, because there’s a lot of empirical treatments for depression that work. And so a lot of people, if you do as an example, 8 to 10 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy, where you’re focusing on cognitive, your thought behavior, you know, what’s your sleep hygiene, what’s your exercise? What’s your diet?”