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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1995)
Friends In Low Places Depression: Can you help? BY HEATHER KEAFER It! l S ( kS lios f*S t >A,\ | l >tei \f Fn K \x i I k S, Danihii*, 2 I . A junior dietetics major .u temple l puked at her food or ate nothing at all She slept late right through hiochem and 10:S0 lah, through lunch and The )outtg anti the Rest leu Her roommate* were frustrated Ihcv tried to v*akr Iscf up for dittct and to make her eat Danielle wished thes would lease her alone She didn t care anymore \ week l>ch»fc finals, they found her in the hath room gaunt and pale except for a hl.*ndied left wrut, hut alive A razor had eased the feeling of emptmeu and made the plea for help Depression o the leading cause of suicide and according to the American Pwthumc Association, suicide is the third leading cause of death among D to M year-olds. Irff \ zihvc klc. a psyc hologist with 1 cmplc counseling srrsices. vass that most college students he counsels hasc problems ssith ongoing depression l snails it s related to academic or relationship problems he saw One m four women and one in 10 men develop depression during their lifetime \nd those numbers don t include loved ones, vs ho can !»c just av affected In the disease Nothing prepare* them for noticing depression and helping someone through it When the behavior becomes something thes cannot pull out of. u s time tor friends to step in. v.j\\ Michelle Duon 4 xxiai worker at Philhavrn women’s vmun in Pennsylvania ( ommonlv rccogmtcd ivmpuirm of deprrs »ion include feelings of hopelessness and sadness loss of motivation, change in deep pattern* (either deeping too much or too little- low of appetite, low energy. ptsor sell esteem, worrying a lx tut the pact, imtahility and low of interest in activities previously enjoyed It % tough to tell whether a friend is clinically depressed or just vad to know whether to intervene or butt out I wish 1 had fevognued it earlier as depression and not mst niv roommate s personality ~ save one of l >anidle s rtHimmaics. ( arcs a I cntplc senior I felt limited m utg to lx a best friend, halaiu mg the role of a confidant and knowing what she really needed ( ate* save Danielle attempted suicide twice before 1 are* and other roommates involved a school uiuasrlor It * normal to want to help, hut know that you cannot change things. Dixon says She saw that when someone becomes isolated, indulges in dan gerous Ixhaviot or engages in suicidal acts, outside help is needed Mam vollcy.i and umversin conn sclmg centets treat depression Between 80 and ‘N> percent of ail depressed peo pie respond to treatment, which can include p*v chothcrapv. medication or a combination of the two according to the \PA Ncarls all depressed people who get treatment sec at least some relief from their symptoms IVptcssion is often as bewildering to victims as it is to their loved ones 1 wish my friends understood that I had no con trol and coukfn t just snap out of it. cass a female I cm pic senior whc» is Ixmg treated for depression Friends who rrs to help can also get sucked into depression. Dixon warns Know sour limitations. Dixon streets Real i/c that you cannot help the situation on your own.* I Hxon suggests that friends of depression victims do what they emov to help relieve stress and prevent i I It IUH 11 V J .."h wr,ianu Umi, it s important that triends have support sssiems of then own (. airs lass that talking to Inetids helped het feastets the situation and Icel hettcr I lamellc has taken a semester oH Intm selsonl to resent threaps slum sou sate hv uktng an as use tide, site ads rso 'Otan t pretend depression doom t not ' X,imr kit brtn K haugfd l ot a tree pamphlet on depression ssrite 1 he American Ptvchiatris Association. DP A Depi St M I-4(H) K St S\X Washington. DA JOtHIS Hr.uktr Keuftr a a irs.w /..»» ■ *ia: a** nt+tior at Sietudk < aJJftp /« Shiny, Happy People The latchkey kids ot the 80s are ftymg into the real world with more emotional baggage than can tit into the overhead compartment There are statistics to prove ft Those born after 1955 are three times as likely to sutler trom depression as those born before and since 1945 the ZO to Z9 age group has more than tripled its suicide rate Simply put many members ot our Breaklast Club won't be |ommg us tor lunch But now there s Prozac Since Its introduction in 1988 Prozac has become the second most commonly prescribed drug in the country And because nonpsychiatric physicians can prescribe Prozac, it's also being used to treat an ever wider range ot afflictions and bad habits — smoking. PMS weight control, premature ejaculation you name it But despite Its versatility and impressive 65 percent success late in treating depres sion, everyone leacts differentty to the won der drug ot the 90s Salty an Orange Coast College junior had quit school, used amphetamines and cocaine, was bulimic and fought constantly with family and triends Today, two years after going on Prozac. Salty is a drug tree 4 0 student who enjoys a happy, productive life Then there s Lillian a recent U ot Tesas graduate who found Prozac s side effects to be nothing but double “II screwed up my set trie." Lillian says “I was no longer orgasmic This is a consequence that often divides users along gender lines Women are irked by the reduction ol seiual sensation while guys claim Prozac makes them Energizer bunnies ol love Surprisingly, it's not cases like Lillian that concern skeptics, but success stories like Sally s Critics worry about the long term effects ol taking Prorat Some tear future medical problems while others envi sion a New World Order society ol passion less robots Ridiculous? Yes But these concerns are valid since Prozac will undoubtedly alter the events that unlotd in our lifetime The question tor our generation is Will the change be lor better or worse7 It a substantial portion ol the population is on Piozac how will that aftect say poll lies? Would John F Kennedy have been voted in by an electorate ol Prozac poppers7 II so would Oswald, it on Prozac, still have assassinated him7 Would a chemically bat anced Jttn Morrison still have written The End M then overdosed htmaaft into oblivion7 Or would he have written more sanguine pop songs r A Fresh Start”?) and be partici paling in a joint reunion tour with the Eagles right about now7 As we bravely march toward the end ol the millennium Ptuzac tor better or worse, is now part ot our arsenal And like any device, it IS only as helpful or destructive as the person who uses it By Mimes Hibberd U ol Texas, Austin
