PODCAST 2 SCRIPT

[COMM 350 Intro]

Camryn: Welcome to the Comm 350 podcast for emerging communications technologies. We are students
helping students and we are students at Western Washington University who aim to help and guide students
with depression. Make sure to follow us on twitter and instagram using the hasht ag #thereshelp. Today we are
going to be covering some helpful things that you can do about your depression.
Seth: According to an article published on Helpline.com written by Jaime R. Herndon, peer reviewed by Dr.
Timothy J. Legg on April 4th, 2018, there are a few primary things that one can do on their own that can help
combat recurring depression. The first, and frankly best, thing one can do is seek professional help. This
includes all parts of the medical field; counselors, therapists, and doctors. Th ese professionals will often give
you more personalized advice/treatment plans, and following those (whether it be seeing a therapist regularly,
practicing a different routine, or taking the proper medication) can greatly improve one’s mental state.
Seth: Secondly, finding support within your own life can be equally as important. If possible, this article
strongly suggests finding a healthy and proper support system. This is just a system/set of people that you
feel comfortable reaching out to and talking about your issues with. This can include friends, family, or
professionals.
Seth: Lastly, you can practice self-care. This article outlines different ideas for self-care, such as proper
sleep, a healthy diet, and regular exercise. It is important to remembe r, however, that for each person, self
care can look very different. Simply described, self-care is whatever you can do to care for yourself and help
put yourself in a healthier mindset. This can be taking time to eat a good meal, read, take a bath, listen to
music, go on a walk, or anything that helps you.
Heidi: And when you realize that you might have depression the first steps to finding help can be the most
daunting or challenging. In case you didn’t know, there are resources available here in Western campus. The
first is the Western Washington University Counseling Center. They offer services such as short term
individual counseling, crisis services, group counseling and workshops. It is free for any Western Washington
University student enrolled in at least 6 credits for a quarter. It is Located in Old Main 450 and it provides a
free online questionnaire that takes 10-20 minutes!
Heidi: If you are in crisis--call 911 or a helpline. Also there is a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline you an
call-- 1-800-273-TALK (8255). And there is also “The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support
for people in distress, prevention and best practices for professionals.”
Kenan: Now for those local folks who want to get a little more help from the community, Let’s talk about
NAMI of Whatcom! (http://www.namiwhatcom.org/ ) NAMI stands for the National Alliance on Mental
Illness. They’re dedicated to educating and helping those affected by mental illness. They Offer support
groups to the community as well as classes on mental health, they have educational events, they have
resources online including hotlines, emergency help, crisis help, a rticles on health and wellness, mental
illness, suicide prevention, veteran resources, and they also have information about families and children and
how to deal with depression and those situation. They also have links to help you find providers in the ar ea,
and they actually have a free library on their little campus that has books and we’re not regarding to mental
health. You can find them at www.namiwhatcom.org/.
Kenan: In our last podcast, we also discussed how economic and financial pressures can make symptoms of
depression worse and they can also make it very difficult to take care. We are going to share some monetary
system programs with you that can be useful when seeking help for depression.
Kenan: The first of those and possibly the easier one to sign up for and get is the Apple Health Care,
provided in Washington, a state government assisted healthcare plan, and you can use it to go get help in
different areas. You can get counselors, you can go to different clinics in your areas. They do have one
available in Washington or in Bellingham, so if you worried about finding one nearby, there are plants clinics
available , and there’s also a credit card that you can use if you have the resources to apply for that, is the
Synchrony Care Credit , and if you just google that, synchrony, it’s called Care credits. And when you apply
if you’re approved, you can use it at multiple locations for any sorts of medical help that you need, whether
surgerys, you can use it for your pets, you can use it on counselors in certain places and you can just go to the
doctors and getting checks up
Camryn: Before we leave today we want to leave you with some tips and tricks to lower your risk for
depression. According to an article from Psychology Today.com, called The Art of Avoiding Depression , it
recommends clearly articulate your goals and working on your relationship skills , you can also work on the
critical thinking. This is the ability to examine the evidence and correctly assess the truth of your beliefs, to
discriminate between things that you're responsible for and things that you're not. People tend to
underestimate or overestimate the amount of control they actually have over situations. The abil ity to
recognize what you are and are not responsible for is directly related to how much guilt you experience.
Camryn: Thanks for tuning in today. if you have any questions or would like additional resources, feel free
to reach out to Students helping students, be in our website, Twitter or Instagram. We’re here for you and
never forget
All: #thereshelp
[COMM 350 Outro]

Reference

Legg, T. (2018, April 4). Can you Cure Depression?. Retrieved

from https://www.healthline.com/health/can-you-cure-depression#5
ADAA. (2018). Symptoms. Retrieved from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression/symptoms
Henriques, G. (2018, February 21). What is Causing the College Student Mental Health Crisis?. Retrieved
from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-knowledge/201402/what-is-causing-the-college-student-
mental-health-crisis?
fbclid=IwAR107lMu1mWCsaDE3MdQxmeQ5zTEE2hX99QsEog-Sg8M6IJVTwNwQVhcGWo
Desireless, E. (2018). Free Music Beds. Retrieved from http://www.freemusicbeds.com/about.htm
Zagorski, N. (2017, January 17). Using Many Social Media Platforms Linked with Depression, Anxiety Risk.
Retrieved from
https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2017.1b16
DiMatteo, R. M., Lepper, H. S., & Croghan, T. W. (2000, July 24). Depression is a Risk Factor for
Noncompliance with Medical Treatment. Retrieved
fromhttps://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/485411#2 6778280
PacDV. (2018). Free Sound Effects. Retrieved from http://www.pacdv.com/sounds/
Whatcom, N. (2018). Nami Whatcom. Retrieved from http://www.namiwhatcom.org/
Authority, H. C. (2018). Apple Health Coverage. Retrieved from https://www.hca.wa.gov/health-care-
services-and-supports/apple-health-
medicaid-coverage
Synchrony. (2018). CareCredit. Retrieved from https://www.mysynchrony.com/mysyf/cmp-
index.html?market=healthcare&store=carecredit
Western Washington University. (2018). Counseling Center. Retrieved from https://counseling.wwu.edu/