THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24; 2012
HEALTH
PAGE 7A
Research links depression with modern lifestyles
MARSHALL SCHMIDT/KANSAN
Stephan Ilardi, associate professor of psychology, discusses depression at Douglas County Senior Services Thursday evening. Ilardi has researched a treatment for depression that emphasizes diet, exercise, exposure to sunlight, and human relationships.
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
Nearly a quarter of 18-to-29-year-olds will suffer from depression in their lives, more than any previous generation, said Stephen flardi, associate professor of psychology, at a lecture presented at Douglas County Senior Services Thursday evening. Ilardi pointed to the stresses of modern society as driving this spike in depression.
"We as a species were never designed for the sedentary, socially isolated, indoor, sleep deprived, fast food, frenzied pace of modern life of the 21st century," Iardi said.
Ilardy discussed how modern-day society eats more and is less physically active than its ancestors, which contributes to the obesity rate of 65 to 75 percent of adults. And although modern society is the safest of any in the history of the world, stress response is far higher now due to greater awareness of tragedy, more perceived social competition and heightened value on success, according to Ilardi.
As a result, conditions never experienced by early humans have developed. The conditions include obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, fibromyalgia, cancer, and especially depression, Iliardi said.
Ihardi pointed to studies showing that one of every nine adults are treated for depression. The rate of the condition has doubled in the past 20 years, despite increased use of chemical antidepressants. More than 30,000 sufferers of depression
commit suicide, and the younger the person, the higher the probability a person will experience depression in his or her lifetime, according to trends llardi cited.
"Our diet is setting us up for a depressed brain," Hardi said.
However, ilardi's researched treatment, Therapeutic Lifestyle Change, or TLC, offers a method that has seen 75 percent of depression patients recover, compared to approximately 25 percent of those on the waiting list for the research. Ilardi has patients exercise with a trainer or partner and alter their food habits.
He recommended less sugar dense foods and more Omega-3 intake, found in sea fish or wild game. Ilardi also prescribes light exposure, sleep improvement and improved human relationships to combat depression. Half of adults have no close friends, Ilardi said.
Jessica Beeson, director of community engagement for the CLAS, sees the findings as relevant to senior and student populations alike.
"Our aim is to get the research of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences out into the public and making it accessible," Beeson said.
Carleen Roberts, Executive Director of the Douglas County Senior Services, was pleased to collaborate with Ilardi to discuss an issue affecting all ages.
"We want to have more partnership with the University and this professor's research and best practices in dealing with depression gives back to the community." Roberts said.
Above, an undated photo of Anne Frank, known for hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Records of her proxy baptism by a Mormon church have sparked complaints.
Edited by Max Rothman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RELIGION
More Holocaust baptisms recorded
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY — A new claim has surfaced that the Mormon church posthumously baptized a Holocaust victim, this time Anne Frank.
The allegations come just a week after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apologized when it was brought to light that the parents of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal were posthumously baptized by church members at temples in Arizona and Utah in late January.
Researcher Helen Radkey, a former Mormon who revealed the Wiesenthal baptisms, said this week she found Frank's name in proxy baptism records dated Feb. 18, showing the ritual was performed in the Santo Domingo Temple in the Dominican Republic.
The Mormon church almost immediately issued a statement, though it didn't mention Frank by name.
"The Church keeps its word and is absolutely firm in its commitment to not accept the names of Holocaust victims for proxy baptism," the Salt Lake City-based church said. "It is distressing when an individual willfully violates the Church's policy and something that should be understood to be an offering based on love and respect becomes a source of contention."
Church officials did not return telephone calls and emails from The Associated Press on Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam declined comment.
Larry Bair, the president of the Mormon temple of Santo Domingo, said Thursday he had looked into the reports but was unable to verify that Frank had been baptized.
If it did occur, Bair told the AP,
"It was a mistake."
The news infuriated Jewish leaders, who said the church had previously agreed to bar the process of baptizing Holocaust victims but has failed to follow through by educating its members.
Frank was a Jewish teenager forced into hiding in Amsterdam during the Holocaust and killed in a concentration camp. Her diary was published in 1947.
"I am a Holocaust survivor. It is so offensive in the sense that Holocaust victims were killed solely because they were Jews. And here comes the Mormon church taking away their Jewishness," said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "It's like killing them twice."
Mormons believe the baptism ritual allows deceased people a way to the afterlife but it offends members of many other religions.
Jews are particularly offended by an attempt to alter the religion of Holocaust victims, and the baptism of Holocaust survivors was supposed to have been barred by a 1995 agreement.
The church said it takes "a good deal of deception and manipulation to get an improper submission through the safeguards we have put in place."
"While no system is foolproof in preventing the handful of individuals who are determined to falsify submissions, we are committed to taking action against individual abusers by suspending the submitter's access privileges," the church said in its statement. "We will also consider whether other Church disciplinary action should be taken."
RADIO
Campus student radio may win Woodie Award
Campus radio station and Kansas media partner KIJH 90.7 FM is a semi-finalist for MTVU's Woodie Award for best college radio station, according to a news release on Thursday.
The field is now down to 25 semifinalists, and voting is open to the public. Students can vote by going to RateMyProfessors.com, and they can
vote as many times as they want per day until voting closes.
The award is given to one campus radio station each year, and in years past, WVUM at the University of Miami, KUPS at the University of Puget Sound and WICB at Ithaca College won the award.
KJHK station manager Alex Tretbar said it's great to see KJHK make it this far in the voting process, because it relied predominantly on fans using social media.
"We hope that KJHK's listeners will keep up their intense dedication to the station by seeing KJHK through the next round of voting online," he said in the news release. "It's always a good thing for KJHK and KU when the station is recognized for honors such as this, and we're hoping for even more success with this and other national accolades this year."
Voting for the final round of 10 schools ends Feb.27 at 11 p.m.CST.
— Laura Sather
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