4C
Monday, August 18, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Picking up the pieces left by depression
Keys to survival include support even medication
By Tim Harrington Special to the Kansan
The symptoms are different for everyone.
One 18-year-old KU student said, "Sometimes your face is soaking wet before you even realize you're crying. The tears just come without warning and usually without good reason."
Another student said, "You feel hopeless about yourself. You have no redeeming quality. I will always have a different viewpoint because of it."
A 1994 study found that as much as 17 percent of the American population is afflicted with depression, almost 45 million people.
Former KU student Kate Shaer described clinical depression as so encompassing that it becomes a physical pain, but the sufferer cannot identify the source. "Eventually I just pray for death." she said
The trend has grown steadily since the 1940s becoming a "depression epidemic", a phrase common throughout the mental health care community.
The University of Kansas is no different.
Linda Keeler, a psychiatrist in Counseling and Psychological Services, said about 85 percent of the students she treats have
depression and are prescribed antidepressants.
Conservatively, that's more than 500 cases of depression diagnosed at the University of Kansas each semester.
Depressed students must not only fight the stigma associated with mental illness but also must battle a condition that comes and goes, usually without warning. Clinical depression is physically and mentally debilitating.
"At first I start to notice my thoughts circling around darkness, and I start to think the worst possibility about everything," said Shaer, who graduated from the University of Kansas in 1992 at age 32.
"Thinking starts to become physical labor, and when you move it's like walking in water," said Shaer, who is the assistant director of the Kansas branch of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill.
She describes depression as a hopeless feeling. "Whatever you're going to do will not measure up, so why even try?" Shaer said.
She remembered how difficult college could be for someone who is prone to depression. Symptoms are exacerbated by outside forces such as stress and poverty.
Shaer said she had gone through college without taking prescription antidepressants. After food, shelter and school expenses, Shaer could not afford $30 a month for medication, she said.
KU students might have some options, Keeler said.
"It all depends on the situation," Keeler said. "Usually we can find a
less expensive medication that can fit their budgets."
Medications such as Prozac, Zoofol and Paxil are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. Those drugs treat depression by raising the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, which helps elevate mood.
Before medication is prescribed, a student first must consult with a licensed clinical social worker, a clinical psychologist, a graduate student or a counseling psychologist at CAPS. The first visit is free, but subsequent consultations are $9.
A student may be advised to see one of the clinical psychiatrists. The initial evaluation will cost $60. Additional visits costs $24 or $60 depending on the length of the meeting.
If a student has no money for medication, the larger producers of antidepressants have indigent programs to make medication available to them, but the process can be long.
Taking prescription medication can be as difficult as obtaining it. College students often have odd eating and sleeping schedules that are not optimal for taking prescriptions. Students also may not understand the life change involved in taking some medications.
"I know if I were 18 and somebody said 'OK, here's a pill that you'll probably have to take for the rest of your life,' I would have said 'What?' Who can comprehend anything that will be for the rest of your life at only 18?" she asked.
NATURALWAY 820-822 Mass.841-0100
Shaer said she found that the side effects of Prozac were worse than her depression.
"I'd have these awful, vivid nightmares that were full of gore, and then I'd carry those emotions into the next day," she said.
Some find rising antidepressant use disturbing. The concern is that the use does not reflect widespread and serious mood disorders but rather society's need to solve problems with an easy-to-swallow capsule.
$7 60 to start plus bonus & two paid holidays. Must be 21.
DO YOU HAVE FLEXIBLE HOURS?
Come in for an application
1548C E. 23rd
841-3594
(Behind Vanderbilt)
Need someone with flexible hours enjoys a fun working environment and likes children.
David S. Holmes, professor of psychology, disagrees. He said that the use of antidepressants was not widensdle enough.
LAIDLAW TRANSIT
"I know there are a tremendous amount of people out there that should be on them and aren't,"
is now hiring bus drivers for the Lawrence area.
Kate Shaer
about everything."
Holmes said. "Why someone would be on them when they don't need to be, I don't know."
Kate Sneeer
KU graduate and assistant director of Kansas branch of the National Alliance of the Mental Ill
Holmes said there was no recreational use for antidepressant drugs and that he had no problem with cosmetic pharmacology.
"If someone can have a nose-job or a bust-job, why shouldn't other people be able to have a neurotransmitter job?" Holmes said.
Shaer said that having a support network was an important part of treatment. A support network is a group of friends or family members that creates a positive environment in which the depressed person can talk about his or her problems without feeling stigmatized.
But depression can be fatal. Studies show that along with a depression diagnosis comes a 30 percent increase in the likelihood of suicide.
Guilt often accompanies depression. And guilt makes the stigma more difficult to bear. Being labeled as a depressed person often means being treated as fragile or less intelligent.
"I'm here willing to admit that when I get sick, I need help. I don't need to be talked to like I'm six. I don't need to have my hand held and be explained that whole process. I've got an IQ of 167, you know," Saher said.
Shaer said people with mental illnesses need to be treated with courtesy, respect and dignity.
Photo illustration by Ashleigh Roberts / KANBAN
Depression touches as much as 17 percent of the American population, studies show. Depression in college students can be intensified by the stress of finances and schoolwork. Students who feel down or depressed should seek help and guidance from friends, family members or Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) on campus.
Your KU Health Connection
Board-Certified Physicians
Nurse Practitioners and Nursing staff
Expanded Emergency Treatment Clinic
Sports Medicine Clinic for activity-related injuries
On-site Laboratory and X-ray departments for faster results
- Physical Therapy department
- Gynecology and Men's Clinic
CPR training
Pharmacy with prescription counseling area
- Confidential and Anonymous HIV Testing
x Smoking Cessation program
Peer Health Education program
Health Educators for consultation
Bear Health Education program
Nutrition Counseling
$ \textcircled{1} $ Appointments 864.9507
$ \textcircled{2} $ Counseling and Psychological Services 864.2277
7785.864.9500
ukans.edu/home/watkins
Introducing
Emprise Access-24 Hour Telephone Banking
Free Checking
In a world where you're always paying for something, it's nice to know that a personal checking account at Emprise Bank is absolutely FREE! No monthly balance is required. Just open your account with 100 or more and write away. You can't do better than FREE, so open your Emprise FREE checking account today.
2435 Iowa/749·0800
EMPRISE BANK ℮
NA
23rd & Haskell/838-2000
Member FDIC
---