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