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. LAC1K Laser Vision Correction Nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism STEVEN OFNER, MD Jerry Allen BEFORE Jerry Allen AFTER (Surgery by Steven Ofner, MD) You Don't Have To Imagine Anymore! Discover the freedom of reducing your dependence on glasses or contact lenses. Call us to see if you are a candidate & explore your options with a FREE consultation appointment. 011049 STEVEN OFNER, M.D. (541) 687-1715 http://www.eugeneeyecare.com 258 E. 13th Eugene 342-7975 New & Used Vinyl’s CD’s & Tapes 000671/ — poppi*/— The Land East” Traditional V Greek & Indian Food C^> Lunch Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 P.O. 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