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The Red & Black | Friday, September 16, 2005 | 3A
Antidepressants common on University campus
UGA Students Diagnosed
with Depression
15,
12
« 9
OU
2001
Undergrads
2003
Undergrads
Out of UGA Students Diagnosed
with Depression
o'—
2001
Undergrads
□ Diagnosed with depression in the last 12 months.
□ Currently in therapy for depression.
□ Currently taking medication for depression.
By AMY EDGERTON
aedgerton@randb.com
Each year, more students
arrive on campus already tak
ing antidepressant medica
tion, said Liz Rachun, public
relations coordinator for the
University Health Center.
In 2003, 13 percent of
undergraduates reported
being diagnosed with depres
sion, according to a survey by
the American College Health
Association.
Of those students, 36 per
cent said they were currently
taking medication for depres
sion.
But despite their presence
on campus, there are a num
ber of things students may
not know about taking anti
depressants:
Avoid Alcohol.
Because alcohol is a
depressant, “heavy drinking
can lead to depression on its
own, and nullify antidepres
sants at the same time — it’s
a double whammy,” said Dr.
Robert Stephens, a psychia
trist at Athens Regional
Medical Center.
Some antidepressants are
metabolized in the liver, and if
the liver is preoccupied with
metabolizing medication,
alcohol is circulated in the
body for a longer period of
time.
Students on antidepres
sants require less alcohol to
get drunk and stay drunk
longer, said Dr. Josephine
Albritton, an assistant profes
sor in the psychiatry depart
ment at the Medical College
of Georgia.
Talk to Your Doctor.
“People are afraid they’re
going to become suicidal.
That’s probably (my
patients’) single greatest con
cern at the moment,”
Stephens said.
Recent studies have sug
gested that taking antide
pressants might increase the
risk of suicide — a claim the
FDA is reviewing.
The findings are nothing
new to Stephens.
“We were told at the very
beginning that after a week or
two patients are especially at
risk,” he said.
Depressed students often
have a severe lack of energy,
but as the medication takes
effect they regain their moti
vation.
Because medication can
take three to four weeks for
full effect, Stephens said a
small percentage of people
may still have suicidal
thoughts even after they’ve
regained their energy.
He said it’s important to
keep in contact with a doctor
because those students might
be more likely to act on their
harmful thoughts.
Make a Commitment.
Although newer drugs can
be very expensive, Albritton
said students must take their
medication daily because
changes in the brain need to
stay for at least a year’s time.
Also, students should treat
all sources of their depres
sion. Combining medication
with therapy can lead to a
faster, longer-lasting result.
Explore Other Options.
If students are at risk for
harming themselves, they
should use conventional med
icine like antidepressants,
said Dr. Holly Richards, who
founded New England
Natural Health.
But for students with a
lower level of depression,
Richards treats them using
supplements like St. John’s
Wort and 5-HTE
Richards suggests stu
dents consult their therapist
before taking supplements,
and learn breathing and
relaxation techniques.
“Herbs aren’t the sole
answer, just as clinical drugs
aren’t the sole answer,” she
said.
It’s also important for stu-
JOE RICE | The Red & Black
dents to eat well, exercise,
and take care of their overall
health, Stephens said.
CHUCK BURTON | Associated Press
A Vernon Guthrie, right, talks with fire chief Richie Frost as he describes the damage from Hurricane
Ophelia to his restaurant, The Crab Shack, in Salter Path, N.C., Thursday.
KATRINA: Univ. faculty
help transfer students
> From Page 1A
absolutely safe to do so.”
Shrinidhi Subramaniam, a Tulane
sophomore transfer from Savannah,
said the mini-orientation — which
the University held for incoming
students as they arrived — was help
ful. All of her classes are close
together so traveling around cam
pus is not hard.
She said teachers are giving her
time to get adjusted.
“A class I started last Thursday
was having a test this Tuesday, but
the teacher is not making me take
the test until I am ready,”
Subramaniam said.
Money issues were resolved
quickly for Subramaniam.
The University waived her tuition
for the fall semester, and Tulane
announced that it is keeping
fall tuition and applying the money
toward the spring semester,
she said.
Bruce Rhone, a Dillard University
transfer from New Orleans, said
everyone has been very helpful.
Georgia Cycle Sport — a local
bicycle shop — gave him a bike for
transportation and Family Support
Services helped him with textbooks,
Rhone said.
“The professors have been very
helpful,” he said. “They said I can
wait an extra week or two to catch
up with the reading.”
University faculty have said they
were not given specific guidelines
dealing with the students beyond
advice to be patient.
Anita Picas, a Spanish instructor
in the Department of Romance
Languages, said she has one student
from the hurricane-affected area.
Picas said her student must make
up missed classwork but she is
allowing the student to take her
time.
BUND: Math, science
need special readers
RECORDING FOR THE
BLIND AND DYSLEXIC
Ophelia downgrades to tropical storm
>- From Page 1A
technical aspects of the
recording — or bookmarkers
who organize the reading
material before recording.
Parts of about 55 kinder
garten to college-level text
books are recorded each
week in subjects ranging from
art history to pre-algebra.
The recordings are then sent
to the RFB&D headquarters
in New Jersey to be encoded
into compact discs and dis
tributed nationwide, Smith
said.
Along with 262 institution
al memberships in Georgia,
every public school in
Athens-Clarke County has a
membership for students to
utilize the books as well, serv
ing more than 4,000 individu
als.
Many blind, dyslexic and
physically handicapped stu
dents at the University use
some RFB&D-recorded text
books through Disability
Services, Smith said.
Certain subjects such as
math, science and foreign lan
guages require “specialized”
readers, who are proficient in
the area and can smoothly
translate parts of the text —
such as an algebraic equation
or descriptions of works of
art, Smith said.
“(Specialized volunteers)
are always on our wish list,”
Smith said.
Of the blind, dyslexic and
physically handicapped stu
dents that RFB&D serves, 70
to 80 percent of the borrowers
are dyslexic individuals,
Smith said.
Dyslexia — a neurological
disorder that interferes with
language processing and
impairs reading and writing
abilities — has a negative stig
ma and is often misunder
stood, even by teachers,
Smith said.
Dyslexic individuals don’t
process letters as words
because their brains
are wired differently, Smith
said.
“It’s like if a teacher passes
out books in a class, and
everybody gets a book, but
yours is in Chinese.”
The combination of look
ing at a text while listening to
it enables students to
process the information,
which opens the door to
learning.
“Almost universally, bor
rowers will say RFB&D
changed their lives, that’s
Contact Kane Stanley: 549-1313
(www.rbd.org/Units/Georgia
Unit.htm)
Volunteers should feel comfort
able reading college-level text
books, have basic computer skills
and be able to commit 90 minutes
of their time per week
what makes it so satisfying,”
Smith said.
But the RFB&D reaches
only 10 to 20 percent of the
individuals in the state who
could be borrowers due to
dyslexia, Smith said.
“We have a lot of people yet
to reach. Every (RFB&D) stu
dio is thinking the same
thing.”
By MARGARET LILLARD
Associated Press
SALTER PATH, N.C. -
Tropical Storm Ophelia
crawled along the North
Carolina coast Thursday,
prolonging its punishment
of the Outer Banks with rain
and wind as coastal resi
dents elsewhere returned
home to damaged homes
and businesses.
While the weakening
storm’s center was expected
to stay just off-shore, the
northern side of Ophelia's
eyewall, the ring of high
wind surrounding the eye,
could remain over the Outer
Banks until midday Friday,
the National Hurricane
Center said.
Ophelia was "just beating
us to death," said Alton
Ballance, who lives on the
Outer Banks' Ocracoke
Island, just south of
Hatteras. "It’s similar to the
wintertime nor'easters that
lay there and beat you for a
couple of days," he said.
Gov. Mike Easley said
getting a handle on the
scope of damage was diffi
cult because of the storm's
slow path, first affecting the
state’s southeastern coast
on Tuesday and then crawl
ing north and east
Wednesday and Thursday to
its position off the Outer
Banks.
"It’s almost like working
three different storms,"
Easley said.
More than 48,500 homes
and businesses remained
without power Thursday in
eastern North Carolina, util
ities said.
It appeared that the
mainland had dodged the
severe flooding many had
feared, but the wind and
waves had taken a toll.
Ophelia, an erratic storm
that has looped and mean
dered north since forming
off the Florida coast last
week, stalled early Thursday
afternoon, then resumed a
drift toward the east-north
east at about 3 mph, the
hurricane center said.
Its top sustained wind
speed had eased back to 70
mph, below the 74 mile-per-
hour threshold for a hurri
cane, and it was classified a
tropical storm at 8 p.m. by
the National Hurricane
Center.
Since it was weakening
and its direction was toward
open ocean, a hurricane
warning for the North
Carolina coast was reduced
to a tropical storm warning,
extending from Cape
Lookout northward to Cape
Charles Light, Va., including
the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay, the hurricane center
said.
On the Outer Banks,
power had been restored to
Buxton by Thursday
evening and crews were
working to restore it to
Frisco and Hatteras Village.
Farther north on the
Outer Banks, most busi
nesses remained open in
Nags Head and Manteo and
a few people braved inter
mittent rain squalls to shop
or check out the surf.
At 8 p.m. EDT, Ophelia
was centered about 45 miles
south-southeast of Cape
Hatteras. It was drifting
eastward at nearly 5 mph,
and was expected to pick up
forward speed Friday, the
hurricane center said.
A tropical storm watch
was issued for southeastern
Massachusetts, including
Cape Cod, Nantucket and
Martha’s Vineyard.
Ophelia is the 15th
named storm and seventh
named hurricane of this
year's busy Atlantic season,
which ends Nov. 30.
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