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The Daily Beacon presents the Mental Health Issue Volume 131 Issue 29

utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon

Thursday, February 25, 2016

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The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016 THE DAILY BEACON STAFF

EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief: Jenna Butz Managing Editor: Bradi Musil Creative Director: Katrina Roberts Chief Copy Editor: Hannah Moulton News Editor: Tanner Hancock Asst. News Editor: Alahnah Ligon Sports Editor: Jonathan Toye Asst. Sports Editor: Taylor White Arts & Culture Editor: Megan Patterson Asst. Arts & Culture Editor: Michael Lipps Online Editor: Cara Sanders Asst. Online Editor: Altaf Nanavati Photo Editors: Esther Choo, Alex Phillips Design Editors: Lauren Ratliff, Justin Keyes Copy Editors: Breanna Andrew, Sara Counts, Trenton Duffer, Courtney Frederick, Jared Sebby, Shelby Tansil Editorial Production: Laurel Cooper, Amber Dalehite, Rachel Incorvati, Caroline Norris, Cameo Waters Training Editor: Troy Provost-Heron

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Mental Health Issue

Dear reader, A rigorous course schedule, a job that pays too little, a tuition that keeps on rising and a social life that you can barely fit into your schedule — college can be one of the most mentally taxing times in someone’s life.

We joke that that’s just the “college life,” but according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in four students have a diagnosable mental illness — and only 60 percent seek help.

It’s already way too easy to neglect your mental health, and in a society that increasingly underestimates the consequences of untreated and undiagnosed disorders, seeking help for a mental health can seem like you’re just complaining about nothing.

“Suck it up.” “Stop whining so much.” “Get over it.”

But the reality is, your mental health can make or break you.

Also according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, 80 percent of students feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities, and 50 percent have been so anxious that they struggled in school. You’ve probably felt the reality of these statistics when you felt like Netflix was more important than a B on your next 17th century British poetry paper or when you realized you missed an exam because all your body wanted was just a few more hours of sleep.

This issue is meant to highlight the many mental health issues we face inside and outside of the classroom. In this issue, you will find stories about the specific difficulties student athletes face, when normal college partying goes too far and the

cost of seeking mental health treatment, among other articles.

There are also personal essays from students discussing their own battles with mental illness, as denoted by the brain logo.

However, please don’t use this issue to self-diagnose. Just like we all know you can’t trust WebMD 100 percent, you should not use this copy of The Daily Beacon as the definitive guide to a college student’s mental well-being. If you ever feel like you need to talk to someone, the Counseling Center on campus offers free walk-in sessions from 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Instead, use this issue to educate yourself on mental illness as an illness and not as just another college problem.

Jenna Butz, Editor-in-Chief

Bradi Musil, Managing Editor

Go online to utdailybeacon.com for exclusive online content!

Editor-in-Chief: (865) 974-2348 editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com Main Newsroom: (865) 974-3226 editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com LETTERS POLICY: The Daily Beacon welcomes all letters to the editor and guest columns from students, faculty and staff. Each submission is considered for publication by the editor on the basis of space, timeliness and clarity. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style. Contributions must include the author’s name and phone number for verification. Students must include their year in school and major. Letters to the editor and guest columns may be e-mailed to letters@utdailybeacon.com or sent to Editor, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314.

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Bill to give counselors freedom to deny patients Tanner Hancock News Editor The relationship between therapist and patient is a two way street; it doesn’t work without mutual cooperation. Patients have the choice to seek help for their mental issues, but a bill in the Tennessee legislature is looking to change the other end of that dynamic.

Last week, the Tennessee Senate passed a bill allowing state-licensed counselors and therapists the right to refuse service to their patients based on strictly held religious beliefs.

Sponsored by State Senator Jack Johnson, the bill would protect those therapists who refuse service to patients from civil lawsuits or criminal action, yet would also require that

they refer them to another counselor willing to take them on.

Though the bill was withdrawn from the House Health Subcommittee Wednesday evening, it could be brought back after being amended.

For Leticia Flores, the interim director of UT’s Psychological Clinic, the main issue of the bill stems from its broad wording.

Describing it as a “Frankenstein Bill,” she feels the state’s lawmakers are unequipped to deal with the possible ramifications the bill could inflict upon the state’s people.

In a geographically large state like Tennessee, many patients in rural areas could be presented with relatively few options when it comes to mental health assistance. While counselors are required to refer patients to

another professional, Flores fears that may place an undue burden on those Tennesseans unable to travel long distances to get the help they need.

“I see this as potentially leading to some real issues where people can’t get life saving services,” Flores said.

Under the wording of the bill, counselors could refuse service to a patient for any number of religiously inspired reasons, ranging from a client’s sexual orientation to personal life choices that may come up during counseling. Testifying before the House Tuesday, Susan Hammonds-White of the Nashville Psychotherapy Institute spoke to the concern of placing the values of a counselor above the well being of the client.

See BILL on Page 4

The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016 Mental Health Issue

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The college lifestyle: How much is too much?

Megan Patterson Arts & Culture Editor After growing up hearing that college is the most fun time of your life, what happens when reality doesn’t match your expectations?

According to a national survey conducted

by UCLA, one in 10 incoming college freshman reported feeling frequently depressed in 2014. In addition, students who reported feeling overwhelmed by schoolwork and other obligations rose to 34.6 percent from 27.1 percent in 2013.

The Center for Health & Wellness staff said incoming perceptions of the college experience might account for this rise in mental stress among students.

“I think students come here and realize college is a lot harder than they anticipated and there’s a lot more things you have to balance and there’s a lot more layers than you thought when you came in here. That can be daunting,” Assistant Director of the Wellness Center Anna Wade said. “All these pieces keep coming at you.”

Sources of stressors include coursework, new social settings and new skills and expectations involved in everyday life, such as doing laundry and keeping up with groceries.

Wade said additional complications could arise when students begin experiencing mental illness for the first time during college, given that ages 19 - 26 are when a lot of mental health issues surface.

Alongside the social pressures of establishing an identity and community in a new location, Wellness Coordinator on Alcohol and other Drugs Rebecca Juarez said substance usage could take a toll on students’ mental well-being.

“I think a common misconception is that there is excessive amounts of drinking on college campuses. I think students think they have permission to engage in that, since it seems to be the commonplace thing,” Juarez said, “In reality, when we look at actual numbers, that’s not what’s happening.”

According to the wellness center page on substance abuse, 60 percent of UT students do not binge drink, which for men consists of more than five drinks within two hours and for women more than four drinks within two hours. Although objective definitions exist

for binge drinking and heavy drinking — binge drinking more than five times within a 30-day period — Juarez said defining a drinking problem may be more complicated.

“When I think about what is ‘too much’, I don’t think I can give you a definitive number,” she said. “It is subjective to at what point does it become problematic for the student themselves.”

Juarez recommended students analyze what their goals are and assure that their drinking behavior is not impeding what they hope to achieve, because if it is “that might be a moment where they would want to look at what’s happening in their life.”

For Wade, if a student decides he or she is over-drinking, it may be tied to larger issues, including self-medicating for mental health issues. She stressed students should be “able to reach out to a professional to talk to someone so they don’t go down that path of just using a substance to take care of something that it won’t fix because there are underlying issues.”

Wellness Coordinator on Sexual Health Promotion Billie Amatuus-Salaam said some students might turn to alcohol and other coping mechanisms to deal with “sex and the stigma and shame that surrounds it.”

Amatuus-Salaam compared the cultural perception of “hookup culture” in college to the misconception that the majority of students binge drink.

“Amongst the UT community, the majority of students only have one sexual partner, and a small percentage of students, about 4-7 percent, have six or more sexual partners,” Amatuus-Salaam said. “It’s certainly not the majority that some students may think it is.”

Amatuus-Salaam encouraged students to think of themselves as the “master of your domain,” meaning they have the power to make decisions that are right for themselves.

The wellness center tries to give students the information they need to make these decisions, whether it involves drinking, sexual activity or any other possible stressor of the college lifestyle.

“I think students should know more people are reaching out for help and support than they think there are. It’s not as taboo of a thing as people think it is,” Wade said. “It’s just helping students get where they need to go and get the goals they have for themselves.”

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The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016

BILL First Hand Account

I chip away at the painted wallsclinical white.

They say the color is supposed to soothe, but I argue that notion.

A combination of cheap mascara and a restrained, yet highly impulsive, lacrimation reflex has dried itself over my eyelashes. “steadfast, firm...” I tell myself that I am, like my father’s mother.

Unwanted feelings rising through my throat I shove back down to my hollow gut.

An artform.

The raw pickings on my legs have become even more vibrant in color as my complexion has become increasingly transparent.

After all, that is what autumn is for.

I soothe the crimson marks by reminding them I am “independent, feral...” like my mother’s mother.

My remedies for a nostalgic, peculiar time.

Necessary preparation for the damn winter.

Rachel Incorvati is a sophomore in English.

continued from Page 2 “If the client, having developed a sense of trust in the counselor, brings up a concern that is contrary to the counselor’s personal values and the counselor decides that, only because of that value, that counselor wants to refer the client, the counselor is acting on his or her own value system and is abandoning the client in the process,” said Hammonds-White, as reported by The Nashville Scene.

Echoing that fear, Flores also maintained the importance of placing one’s personal views aside when the well being of others is at stake.

“We are taught to put our own beliefs on the back-burner, and our primary responsibility is to treat the person in front of us,” Flores said. “The real crime I see in this bill is we’re allowing professionals to put their own needs and desires ahead of their patients.”

Senator Jack Johnson largely sees those concerns as “hypocritical,” given that medical professionals have the right to refuse patients in non-emergency situations. Johnson said the bill became necessary when the American Counseling

“

Mental Health Issue

We are taught to put our own beliefs on the backburner, and our primary responsibility is to treat the person in front of us. The real crime I see in this bill is we’re allowing professionals to put their own needs and desires ahead of their patients.”

Leticia Flores, interim director of UT’s Psychological Clinic

Association changed its code of ethics in 2014, forbidding discrimination based upon sexual orientation, religion, culture and several other criteria.

“The solution is a direct attack on the religious liberty of counselors,” said Johnson of the ACA’s ethics revision.

Those concerns lie at the center of the debate in the state capitol, as lawmakers struggle to balance First Amendment rights with the ethical obligations therapists have towards their patients.

In following the bill’s progress over the

past few weeks, Chris Sanders, executive director for the Tennessee Equality Project, has taken issue with a bill he feels directly targets the state’s LGBT+ population. With such an emphasis on the religious rights of practitioners, Sanders said the result will be an unnecessary burden on the people counselors are supposed to serve.

“Why are we putting religion into professions that serve the public general?”

Sanders said. “What profession is going to be next?”

Mental Health Issue I never thought I was suicidal, and I knew I grew up with two loving parents in a stable home. I never thought I would want to hurt myself. And I knew I had never had a lot of friends, but I always had enough. I never thought I was anything more than abnormally introspective and withdrawn, but I did think that something was wrong with me.

First Hand Account

“

It’s easy for me to look back and say I sound overdramatic and almost comically pessimistic, but that won’t change that this was how I felt.”

The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016 Unfortunately, despite my long-time efforts at self-diagnosis, my anxiety and mood disorder went undiagnosed until my freshman year at UT when I finally reached a breaking point and sought help. I wrote the passage below on a night I now identify as my turning point. It was the start of the lowest-lows, but it was all up (albeit slowly) from here.

It’s easy for me to look back and say I sound over-dramatic and almost comically pessimistic, but that won’t change that this was how I felt.

I originally wrote this piece for myself, in some vague hope that reading it would somehow stop these moods in the future and bring me back to reality. Although I am now forced to admit that this strategy failed, I hope that it might do good now in another context – exposing readers to a reality they may have never experienced or showing readers that they are not alone.

-December 21, 2013 “I knew it was coming when I wasn’t able to speak at dinner. The change came suddenly. I picked up Wanda, and on the way to the restau-

5

rant, the silence settled over me and between us like a fog that arrives unannounced in a harbor.

It wasn’t that I became angry with her or didn’t want to talk to her. I just couldn’t. It’s as simple as that, but no one ever seems to understand that reason. Simplicity is too confusing.

We arrived and walked to the table.

Throughout the meal, I sat while my family spoke around me. I saw in Wanda’s eyes that she knew. The tension between us was there again, tangible and inescapable. I knew what had caused it this time. The screen that isolated me and made me a simple observer of this chaotic world had also cut me off from her. Throughout the meal my mind wandered — or more accurately, it shut off.

That’s why I can’t speak. The thousand thoughts that normally whiz through my mind before shooting out of my mouth are silenced.

The city that never sleeps is struck dead in an instant. Ironically, I become quite funny in this state. The only remarks I contributed at dinner were comedic one-liners that I read automatically when I was nudged awake to view my teleprompter. I received my laughs and checked out until my next cue.

See PATTERSON on Page 11

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The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016

Athlete help with he

• File Photo

Mental Health Issue

es need mental alth too Katrina Roberts Creative Director

Every day, more than 500 student-athletes walk across campus to train, sweat and prepare before they are ready to don the Volunteer jersey.

For track and field athletes, that day begins in the weight room at 6:30 a.m., where they train for about an hour. After training, they eat breakfast and then attend a full day of classes. Lunch is served at Smokey’s in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center, and practices for individual sports begin around 2 p.m. Individual sports stagger their practice time, but by 6 p.m., each athlete has put in somewhere between 2 to 3 hours of training. They have some downtime after practice to shower and eat dinner, and then homework and academic credit hours fill their evenings.

Then they go to bed, sleep and repeat.

This high-level of organization is crucial to creating a winning athlete and team as well as successful students. Beth AlfordSullivan, the director of track and field and cross-country, said this structure keeps their success rate high both on the track and in the classroom.

“This is college, and it’s the first phase in life where you don’t have that structure like high school,” she said. “In college, you have a lot of free time and a lot of downtime in a day. Studentathletes have to be productive. They have the demands on them which keeps them very structured.”

This structure works; the proof is in the results.

The track and field and cross-country teams have multiple national and SEC championships, with the men currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, and the women ranked No. 7. But these student-athletes are not the only ones competing at a high level.

These same types of structured days apply to sports across the board, from football to rowing to soccer to golf, and can place a lot of pressure on athletes to perform, while they are simultaneously taking full class loads and trying to navigate the college experience.

“There is a lot of pressure when you put on the uniform, and you go out there,” Alford-Sullivan said. “You’re competing for so much, not just for yourself. I think that’s something our student athletes have to grow into. You’ll see a lot of young people in their first or second year, trying to make that balance happen and trying to understand that it’s not letting everybody down, it’s the effort that matters … But at times, you can feel that pressure. ” This high-stakes environment and packed schedule can take a toll on the mental well-being of not only college students, but athletes at any level of sport, and without proper attention, this can lead to damaging mental health issues.

In 2013, the National Athletic Trainers Association released guidelines on how to best address both the physical and mental well-being of student athletes in secondary school and college. It offers guidelines to recognize mental health issues and how to refer young athletes to the care they need.

For assistant professor of practice, Jedediah Blanton, this release was somewhat overdue.

“More and more universities are hiring clinical psychologists or adding clinical psychologists to their sports medicine team, which is great,” he said. “But think about the history of sport.

For the National Athletic Training Association, one of the most respected sports medicine organizations in the world, to only come out in 2013 with a statement about how to best manage this is a little late.”

And this does not apply only to college-aged men and women.

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Most of the time, student-athletes began growing up in the world of sports from a young age. They develop a drive to succeed, but if there is no balance or checks along the way, winning can become an obsession.

Coach Alford-Sullivan makes it a point in her program to remind her athletes about this perspective.

“An athlete has to be given good perspective, and our coaching staff is very capable of providing that,” she said. “ As long as a student can hear that with open ears, maybe the moment the race ends. But maybe the next day, they tend to grow and get better too.”

In his study of the psychology of sport, Blanton focuses on adolescent athletes, which often includes the transition from secondary to college athletics. At a Division I school, such as UT, the pressure on student-athletes to perform at such a high level is huge, especially for those who play football.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to step out onto Neyland Stadium and have 100,000 plus people there to see you,” Blanton said.

“One, that’s got to feel really good and really validating that ‘I’m good, and people want this.’ But if the athlete perceives it otherwise as ‘Oh my gosh, there’s 100,000 people watching me. I’d better not screw up,’ that’s pretty extreme pressure.”

This pressure, combined with academics and social stresses, can take a huge toll on the mental state of an athlete if left undiscussed or undisclosed by the athlete him or herself. In an effort to address these issues, athletic programs around the country are now starting to require certified counselors as part of the coaching staff to help student-athletes cope.

Coach Alford-Sullivan has witnessed the growth of mental health and support programs herself.

“One of the things that has evolved over my coaching career is all of that support system,” she said. “Coaching at Stanford in the mid 90s, those programs did not exist there. They’re now in place at Stanford. Penn State actually was the first to create an academic service center for student athletes.

“It started off as an NCAA grant, and it gained such success that it is now a mandate for all athletic departments. It’s one of those things where to be competing at the very best, they have to utilize services, so we encourage them quite a bit to utilize what’s out there.”

At UT, Team ENHANCE and Team EXCEL are available for athletes to use whenever they want. The groups offer counseling, information and a holistic approach to physical and mental well-being.

Alford-Sullivan regularly encourages her athletes to take advantage of the resource.

“I know individually, many of our student athletes will meet with our sports psychologist, our social worker, our nutritionist, obviously all the academic support system as well,” she said. “It’s highly utilized, and it’s a great support system.”

And while UT has programs in place to support the mental health of athletes, general awareness of the issue is still not widely known.

“We’re still striving and helping them become incredibly successful physically,” Blanton said. “But we can’t forget that they’re a human being and operating in a tricky world.

“Adolescence is terrible, college is stressful, and we have to remember that they’re dealing with all that as well.”

8 Cost treatment list compiled for UT students The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016

Taking care of the thing that makes you who you are — your mind — is not cheap.

According to survey data published in a 2011 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation exploring the way mental health care is financed in the United States, unaffordable cost was the reason 45.7 percent of adults surveyed did not receive needed mental health care.

A 2012 article from the Washington Post illustrated survey data that shows the costs of outpatient treatment fell between $100 and $500 for 38 percent of patients, and nearly as many — 31 percent — accrued costs between $501 and $5,000. The Kaiser Family Foundation report lists Medicaid as the largest source of funding for mental health care in the U.S. The report also states 98 percent of employer provided insurance plans offer some mental health care coverage, albeit most with restrictions.

So what sort of costs could college students fending for themselves in the health care world expect to pay? Thanks to some input from experienced pharmacists and licensed psychologists, The Daily Beacon has compiled some numbers we hope will ease the burden of seeking treatment for mental health issues.

Emilee Lamb, Staff Writer

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Mental Health Issue

“So what sort of costs could college students fending for themselves in the health care world expect to pay?�

Counseling/Therapy

$0

Currently enrolled UT students who have paid their health fee receive Health Center services free of charge, including Counseling Center services. Services from the Student Health Center that are billed to the student are immunizations, injections, lab work, x-rays and receipt of any “disposable medical supplies (i.e. crutches, splints, etc.).�

$105-125 Counseling services from private practices outside of the UT Student Health Center can range in cost from $105-$125 per 50-minute session. The average amount of sessions for one patient can range from 8-10.

Medication Commonly prescribed antidepressant, anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety meds (in generic form) range from $11-$20 at the low end to up to $250 at the high end for a standard dosage.

Most fall somewhere between $15 and $30.

With insurance coverage, copays for the medications would range from nothing to $10.

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PUZZLES&GAMES

Thursday, February 25, 2016 • The Daily Beacon

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Get Fuzzy • Darby Conley

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz ACROSS 42 Minor, as a sin Edit, as tape 44 See 35-Across 7 Pro-___ 46 “Didn’t need to know that” 10 Bill issuer, for short 47 Georgia of “The Mary Tyler Moore 13 3 Musketeers Show” filling 48 Sink to the 14 Some trophies bottom 16 Mauna ___ 50 Onetime 17 “Gosh darn it!”

Mustang option 18 Ford aircraft of 52 Like elephant the 1920s-’30s seals 20 Hand over 56 Hospital 21 Flame-colored conveyance gemstones 60 Auto parts giant 22 Hindu god Superior, as pictured playing 61 investments go a flute 62 Brutish sort 25 It might save 64 Big mfr. of your skin 10-Acrosses 26 Like Liederkranz 65 North Atlantic cheese hazard 28 Parcel of land 66 Six Nations tribe 32 Outburst accompanying a 67 Jane in court cases facepalm 68 Kickoff aid 35 With 44-Across, 69 “He hath ___ the off-the-record fateful lightning discussions … or 12 answers in this …” (“The Battle Hymn of the puzzle?

Republic” lyric) 36 “Want me to?”

37 ___ Air DOWN 39 Alternative to 1 Concession stand Mega Millions 41 Spa session 2 High-carb bite S T E E P S P A A R P A P P E A R L E A N N E O U I E X T R A V I R G I N P T A E T S Y E N T L A M M O D E A F R I V E R M O U T H O R T O N V E R S U S R A D I A T E A I N T D I A P E R S E R V I C E H I N T T A K E S I N I O D I Z E P E A C H D R Y M A R T I N I S T L O A C E D R E A D E R A W A M A O L I V E R T W I S T J A R R A K E I T I S S O A S S A V E R S A N K A S

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I’m Not A Hipster • John McAmis

Cartoons of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

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Royal Navy letters Sam of “Jurassic Park” Not disturb Jillions Place for steamers Place to order a mai tai, maybe Low-class watering hole Feature of many a wedding reception Loiter, with “out” In a way, informally Certain New Year’s resolution follower ___ Tots PC task-switching shortcut

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Camera with a mirror-and-prism system, for short Round figure Weather phenomenon named for baby Jesus Eightsome Furniture designer Charles It’s below “C V B N M” Sneeze guard locale Beach formation Buffet with shells Steak request Barely beat Hand communication, for short Prefix with cortex

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The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016

First Hand Account

The harsh truth of addiction Hannah Moulton Copy Chief

“Osmosis Jones” was released in 2001 to almost no good reviews and absolutely no money, earning $14 million even though it had taken $70 million to make.

That budget astounds me considering it’s a movie wherein Chris Rock plays a white blood cell, and Bill Murray phones in a performance as the most disgusting man to ever live. The moral of the story is that it’s a mediocre movie about white blood cells fighting off infections (literally) that spawned a TV show I loved, even though it definitely could not afford Chris Rock. But that’s not what’s important.

What’s important is that I watched “Osmosis Jones” one night on TV when I was around eight years old and walked away with a crippling fear of getting sick.

I’m not being hyperbolic. I’m being serious. It was debilitating. I could hardly think about anything else. There was a constant pit in my stomach, formed from compounding fear with thought into a massive drill bit that grinded its way through my personality. I couldn’t sleep because of the pit.

I retreated into myself.

While my friends debated which starter Pokémon was the best (obviously Charmander), I sat in at the edge of the table nodding along and freaking out inside my head. I was obsessed with being healthy. I couldn’t get it out of my head.

When I would get hit on said head by anything, be it a ball or playful kick to the face from friends, I thought that I had a concussion and would die. I thought open cuts would get infected and kill me. I thought a cough meant I had lung cancer.

I thought, I thought, I thought. I could not stop thinking.

My parents threw me into therapy, and with the help of that, and an amazing third grade teacher (shout out to Mrs. Hardesty), I managed to get a little better. I was on the up and up.

Then my parents got divorced.

To say that most of my progress was undone would be an understatement. The change sent me flying through a series of fixations, chief among them storms but with some alien invasion and ghosts sprinkled on for good measure. For the record, I now do not believe in ghosts and welcome our alien overlords. But at the time, they crippled me, again.

See NELSON on Page 11

Mental Health Issue

Addiction comes in many shapes, sizes and substances.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) defines addiction as “a problematic pattern of use of an intoxicating substance leading to clinically significant impairment or distress.”

Some of the signs of impairment and distress include failure to meet work, school or home obligations, a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or quit substance use, spending a lot of time obtaining a substance, having withdrawal or tolerance symptoms and continuing to use despite knowing that it’s causing physical or psychological harm.

At least two of these symptoms manifested in a 12-month period are considered to be an addiction disorder.

Gregory Stuart, professor in psychology, has been treating addiction in adults for the past 20 years.

“Of course, there are plenty of people who use substances problematically who may not actually meet criteria for a substance use disorder,” Stuart said.

The most commonly used addictive substances are alcohol, opiates and benzodiazepines.

Drinking alcoholic beverages can turn into hazardous drinking once you exceed a certain number of drinks on one occasion. This means having four or more drinks on occasion if you’re a woman, and five or more on one occasion if you’re a man.

“Each time a person did that it would be considered an episode of hazardous drinking because that level of consumption significantly increases the risk of negative consequences,” Stuart said.

Opiates, or narcotics, include codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone and others. Opiates are commonly used for treating pain.

The euphoria that can come from opiates can become addictive and can turn into a problem after prolonged use or high doses of the substance.

Benzodiazepines are typically used to treat anxiety and sleeping disorders. Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Ambien and many others are commonly used benzodiazepines, which can become addictive after prolonged use.

Both benzodiazepines and opiates can become addictive substances even under the prescribed orders from a doctor.

People who are prescribed painkillers can start to crave the feeling they get from the relieving qualities of the medication.

“I’ve seen a lot of patients who maybe started with a back surgery or some chronic pain condition that ended up evolving into a significant opiate addiction,” Stuart said.

The euphoric feeling that comes from using substances like alcohol, benzodiazepines and opiates is only one contributing factor to addiction. Physical dependence occurs after long-term use. This dependence can cause a person to only feel “normal” when the addictive substance is in their system.

Withdrawal occurs when a person stops using a substance that they have become addicted to. Withdrawal can manifest in physical or emotional symptoms depending on the substance that was used.

Symptoms of withdrawal can include anxiety, depression, headaches, sweating and nausea, among many others.

Alcohol withdrawal can be potentially fatal. A person who has formed an alcohol addiction but suddenly stops drinking can experi-

ence seizures and delirium tremens (also known as DTs) — both can lead to death. DTs are defined as rapid onset confusion that causes shaking, heart palpitations and high fever.

UT’s Center for Health Education & Wellness works to prevent students from experiencing the negative consequences from alcohol addiction.

“The thing I think is important that we stress at this office is that the choice to drink is a really big responsibility,” said Rebecca Juarez, wellness coordinator at the Center for Health Education & Wellness.

The pathways to forming an addiction are infinite. A person can be born with a genetic predisposition to addictive behaviors. The family environment a person grows up in can have an impact on how they react to addictive substances. Hanging out with friends who use substances heavily can also lead to a person forming an addiction.

It is to be noted, however, that having a genetic predisposition to addictive substances and growing up in an environment where addictive substances were used does not condemn someone to a life of addiction. Just as having no predisposition or family history regarding addictive substances keeps a person from forming an addiction disorder.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, visit https://www.addictioncenter.com/ for information on treatment and recovery.

Many people are unaware that you can still become addicted to medication despite taking the prescribed amount. MaryKate Leitch • The Daily Beacon

The Daily Beacon • February 25, 2016 Mental Health Issue

NELSON continued from Page 10 A storm would send me into a panic attack of hysterical sobbing. I was put back into therapy and this time thrown on medication as well, which was wonderful for a kid who still has trouble swallowing pills. I remember “running away” one time because I could not take my pill, and my mother had finally gotten frustrated enough to snap at me. It’s okay though. She’s human too, and I was a dumb kid. She drove after me once I left the house, and we went back home.

I now know that I am an anxious person by nature. I’m an obsessive thinker and can really easily get lost inside my own head.

Couple that with the stresses of switching schools (sickness) and a divorce (storms), and it can lead to outbreaks of what I have been told is best described as generalized anxiety disorder. A pit in the stomach that doesn’t end. A drill bit to a personality.

I don’t know how I got better. I honestly have no idea. There was the time when I was worried constantly, and then there was

PATTERSON continued from Page 5 We left dinner and continued our silent drive. I apologized after 10 quiet minutes, and Wanda said it was alright and affirmed my assumption that she had seen my mood.

Then the pain in my chest began. It always starts small, but it spreads outward like a constantly expanding weighted plate is pressing against my chest. My breathing quickened, and I knew I couldn’t go into the show. I left Wanda at the entrance and told her to tell my family I had felt sick and gone home. Then I left.

The pain in my heart is the first puncture, and then the venom spreads. On the drive home, the pain increased, and I began to sob brokenly and whisper out loud the question that has haunted me since the onset of these moods: “Why?” I called out for an answer over and over, but there was no response. I drove mechanically and blindly. The sobbing intensified, and I remind myself of a child having a tantrum. I don’t cry like this, but I did tonight.

I finally reached my destination: Lakeshore Park. By now the poison has thoroughly infiltrated my system, and I feel numb all over. I feel eight shots deep while sober, and I make it to a parking spot and nearly fall out of the car. My head, hands, body tingle all over like my entire being is a knocked up funny bone. I sat down to smoke, and the demon that has lingered in my mind, called out by the venomous pain,

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the time I wasn’t. Therapy was so ggradually d llll effective for me that it all blends together in a developing teenage mind. Not to say I’m “cured” though. It still rears its head for some sparring during particularly stressful times (I once almost broke up with a girlfriend because my dog died), but overall it is managed.

That’s what therapy did for me. It helped me to learn to manage a mind that is often a runaway train. I know how to pump the brakes now. If you’re struggling with something similar, it can seem like everyone is 24/7 (especially in college). I can’t offer you any generalized advice, since you’re not me and I’m not you. Our minds almost certainly work extremely differently. But talk to someone. A therapist, a friend, someone who understands your mind from an outside perspective. And listen, even if you think they’re wrong. Sometimes listening can be an emergency brake all by itself.

That’s my story. I hope you can take control of yours, too.

Jarrod Nelson is a sophomore in public relations. crawled out to tempt me once again.

I’m weaker than I’ve ever been before, and as I stare at the burning embers of the cigarette in my hand, my demon rolls up my sleeve. I feel the promising warmth only separated from my skin by a thin strip of air, and I utter one last whispered protest, “I don’t really want to do this. I don’t really want to.” The demon is stronger, and I close the gap between my flesh and the fire. I instinctively flinch back, but the second time I hold it longer, then longer, until finally I’m able to put out the cigarette on my bare arm.

Facing the initial pain was the worst, and I let out a gasp with every searing kiss. But once I pressed down and panted in pain, the release came, and I dropped the smoking tool, worn out from the effort. Like an orgasm, this exercise of pain brought the deep satisfaction I had searched for and provided the antidote to the poison desire that had overwhelmed me. Instantaneously, this miracle drug relieved my symptoms and lifted the fog. With arms comfortably throbbing, I drove home.”

A final note: It has been seven months since the last time I burned myself, but I no longer use that as a tally of my mental health. Bouts of panic or depression might always be a part of my life, but since I began taking daily medication and going to therapy regularly, they have become almost like that seasonal plague you get once or twice a year. It knocks the hell out of you, but then life goes on.

Megan Patterson is a junior in BCMB.

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The Daily Beacon â&#x20AC;˘ Thursday, February 25, 2016