Sleeping disorders common among students
■ Difficulty sleeping may be a
symptom of other mental or
physical ailments
By Brooke Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
For those people who suffer from
sleeping disorders, getting enough
shut-eye could be more than a strug
gle — it may be an indicator of men
tal or physical sickness.
Common sleep disorders can be
indicators of mental problems such
as depression, or physical problems,
that can endanger a person’s life
while sleeping, according to physi
cians and counselors at the Univer
sity Health Center.
Dr. Gerald Fleischli, director of
the University Health Center, said
sleeping disorders are a common
problem among University stu
dents.
“I might easily see a couple cases
a week,” he said, adding there are
probably many more students who
suffer but don’t seek help.
“A lot of patients don’t come in
because they think this is what hap
pens in college; they’re not sup
posed to sleep well,” he said.
Fleischli said there are many
sleeping disorders and some can en
danger a person’s life. One of these,
sleep apnea, is when people stop
breathing during sleep either be
cause their tongues fall in the back
of their mouths or because their
neck muscles put pressure on the
airway during sleep.
“Your brain figures out you’re
suffocating and the body wakes up,
but you won’t remember it in the
morning,” he said.
Fleischli said sleep apnea is more
common in older people, but obese
people of any age are at risk.
But one disorder, which Fleischli
said is common among young
adults, is sleep phase disorder in
which one’s sleeping patterns are
random and change from day to
day.
“Most think this is a result of stu
dents’ lifestyles,” he said. “College
students like to stay up late and par
ty, but this is a misconception. ”
He said because students often
have early classes on certain days of
the week and later ones on other
days, students’ sleep patterns are
disrupted from day to day.
Fleischli said sleep phase disor
der is a developmental process that
young people go through early in
childhood because school usually
starts too early for them.
He said it is best if people regulate
their daily body rhythms by going
to bed and getting up at the same
times every day, including week
ends.
“Some students don’t realize
sleep is so important to keeping
them on the go,” he said.
Ron Miyaguchi, senior staff psy
chologist at the University Counsel
ing Center, said sleeping problems
are often an indicator of depression
or an anxiety disorder.
“Sleep disorders are common
symptoms, but the big question is a
symptom of what,” he said.
He said depression is often un
der-diagnosed, but differences in
one’s appetite and sleep patterns are
usually indicators of the disorder.
He said insomnia, which causes a
person to have trouble falling
asleep, can be a symptom of depres
sion.
“If I’m feeling sad it’s easy to over
look, but if I’m laying in bed that’s a
little more obvious,” Miyaguchi
said, referring to the thought
process a person might have.
If a person begins to sleep signifi
cantly more or less than usual, that
may also be a signal something is
wrong, he said. Changes in sleep
patterns may also be signals of anxi
ety disorders, such as obsessive
compulsive disorder.
“A lot depends on the nature of
why people can’t sleep,” he said. “If
sleeping difficulties become a con
tinuing pattern, it is helpful to seek
medical assistance or counseling.”
Miyaguchi said although the
counseling center sees several pa
tients whose sleep disorders are
caused by mental problems, he said
many students don’t seek help be
cause they don’t believe their symp
toms are serious enough.
“Most students would want to
wait it out, but not being able to
sleep should be taken seriously,” he
said.
While symptoms of depression
may be easier to recognize, the ways
sleep disorders affect a person’s
physical health are not as notice
able.
But Joanne Baniago, a sopho
more biology major, knows the im
portance of keeping a stable sleep
Ways to improve
sleeping habits
Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol
in the late afternoon and evening.
Exercise regularly, but do so at least
three hours before bedtime.
If sleeping is difficult at night, do not
nap during the day.
Establish a regular and relaxing bed
time routine, such as taking a warm
bath each night.
If deeping attempts have failed after
30 minutes, get out of bed and en
gage in a relaxingactivity such as
reading.
Get up and go to bed at the same
time every day.
Courtesy of
www.brifishsleepfoundation.org.uk/.
ing schedule. She said she has a
different class schedule through
out the week but tries to go to bed
and get up at the same time each
day.
“I’m less tired if I have a daily
regime, but if I’m in the middle of
homework I won’t go to bed until
it’s done,” she said.
Japanese government suspects negligence by sub crew
By Joseph Coleman
The Associated Press
TOKYO — The Japanese govern
ment suspects “grave negligence”
by the crew of a U.S. submarine that
sank a Japanese fishing vessel and
may push for disciplinary action, a
top spokesman said Thursday.
The comments came as family
members of the victims met sepa
rately with Prime Minister Yoshiro
Mori and U.S. Ambassador Thomas
Foley. They requested that every ef
fort be made to salvage the vessel
and recover the bodies.
The rising tension over the Feb. 9
accident comes after U.S. investiga
tors said the USS Greeneville spot
ted a ship in the area more than an
hour before the collision off the
coast of Hawaii. Nine Japanese —
including four high school students
— are missing and presumed dead.
“The U.S. submarine made a sud
den surfacing despite the detection
of a boat—that indicates grave neg
ligence,” Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yasuo Fukuda told reporters. “We
take it as a grave matter, and we
must take measures on our own,” he
added without elaborating.
Fukuda said his government
looked forward to a full account of
the causes of the accident in a Navy
court of inquiry next Monday.
Tokyo would push for “strict disci
plinary steps on the U.S. side” if
necessary, he said.
Japanese also criticized news that
a crewman who was plotting sonar
readings was distracted by civilian
guests and halted his work. Many
have been outraged that civilians
were even allowed in the sub’s con
trol room.
“It is quite natural that we should
ask the United States government
for a thorough investigation,” Mori
was quoted by Kyodo News service
and national broadcaster NHK as
telling reporters.
Fifteen relatives of the victims met
with Mori and Foley in Tokyo on
Thursday. They uiged Mori to take an
active role in the investigation of the
accident, and not to leave the deci
sion about whether to raise the Ehime
Maru to the United States alone
The relatives said they were des
perate to have “some remem
brance” of their missing loved ones,
said Kazuhiko Koshikawa, the
prime minister’s deputy press sec
retary. They also asked the Japanese
government to arrange a meeting be
tween them and President Bush.
Mori expressed his sympathies
and promised to “make every ef
fort” to fulfill their requests,
Koshikawa said.
The families have been pushing for
Cmdr. Scott Waddle to come to their
small town in southwestern Japan
and apologize directly to them,
though they did not mention that de
mand to Mori, the spokesman added.
That is unlikely in any case, how
ever, because of the legal implica
tions of taking responsibility before
the investigation is completed.
The families did get an apology
from the U.S. ambassador during
their meeting Thursday evening,
Japanese media reported. The U.S.
Embassy declined comment on it.
A string of apologies have already
been made by the U.S. government,
including by Bush and Secretary of
State Colin Powell.
Anger over the accident has also
compounded tensions over the
heavy U.S. military presence on the
southern island of Okinawa, where
crimes linked to American troops
have heightened calls for a reduc
tion of forces there.
Both the U.S. and the Japanese
governments have made strong ef
forts to prevent the accident from
damaging their long-term strategic
relationship. Japan is host to 47,000
American troops under a security
treaty that forms the bedrock of the
U.S. military posture in Asia.
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