4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2007
DEPRESSION (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
ALCOHOL AND DEPRESSION
The college atmosphere can be detrimental to someone dealing with depression because social life revolves around keeggers, parties and goes to bars. Because alcohol is a depressant, it only deepens the depression and hides its symptoms.
When Farr first became depressed, she spent her weekends drinking. That's all she would think about. When Sunday evenings came around and the weekend was over, it would depress her even more.
"When I was out getting drunk, it was the best thing that was," Farr said. "I thought if I can still go out and have a good time, then I can't be
depressed."
However, it only masked her problems and worsened them. She used alcohol to cover up against suspicions her friends had about her depression.
According to a study done in 2003 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, alcohol-dependent individuals are almost four times more likely to have a major depressive disorder than those who are not dependent. The study also found that alcohol abuse was more common among students who had been diagnosed with depression than among those who had not.
Hardi said that alcohol could seem desirable for those who were
Photo illustration by Mindy Rickett
Depression has increased 56 percent in college students in the last six years. Depression profoundly impairs a person's ability to function, stay asleep, sleep well and concentrate.
depressed, because of the substance's anti-anxiety effect.
"Ultimately, though, it is a disastrous choice for someone fighting depression, as it tends to make depressive symptoms worse," he said.
Farr said that only after she had stopped drinking and isolated herself from her friends was she able to understand her depression and seek help.
"The alcohol was masking everything all along, and once I stopped partying and stopped drinking, it was a huge slap in the face that wow, there is a problem," Farr said. "You definitely can't drink and be depressed. I've learned that now."
TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION
In March of Farr's freshman year, after an extremely difficult start for her, Farr realized she was close to rock bottom. She was sitting in her dorm room looking out her window that overlooked campus, which had always been a source of strength for her. It was a beautiful Sunday, and Farr finally picked up the phone and called her mom to ask for help.
"I can't do this on my own anymore," Farr told her. "It was definitively a huge weight off my chest; I could finally take a deep breath," she said of the phone call.
Farr began seeing a therapist and started taking Lexapro, an antidepressant. Her depression began to lift. Unlike others who take antidepressants, she suffered no side effects and slowly built herself back up. She was eventually able to stop taking the medication and going to therapy.
During the summer before her senior year, she began to relapse. She was irritated frequently and again withdrawn from others. She started to give up on school. She went back on Lexapro, but this time suffered side effects such as insomnia and headaches.
"If anything, I felt worse," Farr
said. "I wish I wouldn't have even gotten back on the medication, because it was terrible, but now I'm over that hurdle and don't really have any of the side effects."
Medication is a controversial treatment for depression among younger people. Not all psychologists and psychiatrists agree that antidepressants are effective or the best answer for college-age patients. Some studies suggested younger depression patients who took antidepressant drugs were more likely to consider suicide.
Also, medications such as Xanax, Lexapro and Effexor that psychiatrists commonly prescribe for depression, can cause sleep problems, nausea, fatigue and decreased libido.
"There's a bizarre irony for antidepressants," said Ihlardi, the associate professor of psychology. He said that the use of such medication "has increased exponentially over the last couple of decades and despite this, the rate of depression just keeps going up and up and up. It's not like we have a widely effective treatment."
Morano said she didn't think anti-depressants alone were the answer.
Depression and Alcohol
Binge drinking is more common among college students who report being depressed, those who have felt suicidal in the past year and those who have attempted suicide than among those who have not.
Alcohol use is more common among those who have been diagnosed in the past school year than among those who have not.
"You don't learn the coping skills, and I personally don't think it is all that effective," Morano said.
Cox treated her depression with Lexapro, and she said she felt better within two weeks. After about four months she stopped taking the medication.
Reference: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
John Wade, outreach coordinator of KU Clinical and Psychological Services (CAPS), said that at times medicine was very helpful, but that treatment had to be decided on a student-by-student basis. He said working with a therapist always helped people make progress more quickly.
"It's like trying to become a better tennis player without a coach." Wade said about taking antidepressants without seeing a therapist.
Epstein, of Headquarters Counseling Center, said that whatever the treatment, it was most important for people to seek it.
"We need to feel just as comfortable getting help for a mental health problem as we do for physical health problems," Epstein said.
Iliardi said depression left untreated could lead to brain damage and shrinkage of key areas in the brain.
Other than medication and therapy, treatments for depression include exercise, sunlight and Omega-3 supplements. Avoiding caffeine, alcohol and nicotine helps, and Epstein said that expressing yourself through art, journals or simple conversation with others could ease the pain of depression.
Psychology Today's Morano said, "Just doing things that are pleasurable helps. Working out, sex, being with other people, doing something for other people are all mood boosters and take pressure off of yourself and are all important."
Morano said universities needed to take a larger role in helping students deal with such a common problem.
"Even if the universities didn't cause the problem, I think they have a job to help solve it, because they're part of the business, and part of the
job is making people whole socially, emotionally and cognitively," Morano said.
CAPS, Watkins Memorial Health Center and the Headquarters Counseling Center all offer therapy and other services for students with depression. CAPS offers individual counseling and group therapy and has a psychiatrist to prescribe medications. It also has a free online screening for depression, anxiety and alcohol use that students can use to determine whether they need help and how severe their problems are.
Cox is grateful she received help for her depression. She said she thought about how her friend who committed suicide might not have done so had he gotten help. Farr still battles depression and worries she will suffer relapses for the rest of her life. She is currently in a two-year-long relationship and rarely drinks anymore, but said her medication made her emotionally numb.
"I definitely have my good days and bad days," Farr said. "I mean, you just have to carry on. You have to find it somewhere in you, no matter how bad you are, to just carry on."
Edited by Chris Beattie
Symptoms of Depression
Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
Loss of interest in daily activities
Change in weight, appetite and sleep
Self-loathing
AMTRAK
Concentration problems
Irritability
Aches and pains
Reference: helpguide.org
Train accident injures passengers, causes $1.3 million in damage
BY SOPHIA TAREEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — An Amtrak train was going about 25 mph over the
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The Amtrak train's engineer told investigators he realized the speed limit was 15 mph in that stretch of track but accelerated to 40 mph anyway, National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Caldwell
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Sumwalt told reporters.
speed limit — despite a signal indicating another train was on the same track — moments before it hit a stationary freight train, injuring dozens of people, federal officials said Sunday.
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The speed limit on that portion of track, which is usually 79 mph, had been reduced to 15 mph by a red and yellow "restricting signal," indicating
Sum walt declined to assess blame or say human error caused Friday's
"Part of our investigation is to figure out why that signal (indicating the 15 mph limit) was not obeyed."
another train was on the track, the official said.
Moments after accelerating, the engineer noticed the freight train ahead and applied his emergency
ROBERT SUMWALT
NTSB Vice Chairman
brakes; the passenger train then skidded about 400 to 500 feet and slammed into the freight train at about 35 mph, Sumwalt said.
"Part of our investigation is to figure out why that signal (indicating the 15 mph limit) was not obeyed,"
accident, and he did not say why the engineer might have been speeding
Investigators will try to reconstruct the crash and may dismantle the locomotive to figure out what went
data from event recorders, as they tried to determine why two trains ended up on the same track.
Federal authorities on Sunday wrapped up two days of investigations, which included interviews with crew members and reviews of
wrong, Sumwalt said.
Sumwalt said.
ROBERT SUMWALT NTSB Vice Chairman
"We're not here to point fingers. We're here to find out what happened so we can keep it from happening again."
A police surveillance camera recorded the accident, and the NTSB will
ing to Chicago from Grand Rapids, Mich., walked away without major injuries from the impact, which catapulted people from their seats.
The analysis will likely take months.
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"We're not here to point fingers," Sumwalt said. "We're here to find out what happened so we can keep it from happening again. ... This is the very beginning of this investigation."
171 people to hospitals. Three people — one Amtrak crew member and two passengers were hospitalized overnight and released Saturday.
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Most of the 187 passengers on board the Pere Marquette travel-
The accident caused $1.3 million in damage, federal authorities said. Most damage to the passenger train was concentrated at its engine, where two of the five Amtrak crew members were, authorities said.
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review the footage, Sumwalt said. Investigators didn't plan to make that footage immediately available to the media, he said.
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