Wednesday, November 11, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 7
Studies show regular exercise can curb depression
By Jacob Yancey
Staff Writer
JAYANCEY@UNCA.EDU
Students face an increased likelihood of
depression as winter’s diminishing sunlight
and cold weather force people indoors, ac
cording to the National Institute of Mental
Health.
Students who feel unusually down, help
less or lethargic during winter might suffer
from seasonal affective disorder, the diag
nostic term for winter episodes of depres
sion. Young women, according to NIMH,
are most susceptible to SAD.
“One thing people may not understand
is that depression can sneak up on you,”
psychology professor William Bruce said.
“It’s not always as obvious as getting the
flu. It would be hard to have the flu with
out knowing it; you can become depressed
without knowing it.”
With sunset as early as 5:20 during win
ter months, sunlight deprivation prompts
bodily changes that increase the risk of de
pression, according to NIMH. In addition
to increased time indoors, students hide
their skin under layers of warm clothes,
minimizing their contact with sunlight.
For the most part, students’ bodies won’t
see the sun until spring.
In darkness the pineal gland secretes the
hormone melatonin, a primary factor in
seasonal depression, according to NIMH.
Melatonin regulates many crucial aspects
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders lists two
hallmark symptoms of depression
and seven other symptoms:
Hallmark symptoms:
- loss of interest in activities
-daily feelings of depression
Other seven symptoms;
-weight fluctuation without diet
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- psychomotor retardation or
agitation
-fatigue or loss of energy
- feelings of worth lessness or
excessive guilt
-diminished ability to concen
trate
-recurrent thoughts or attempts
at suicide.
of daily functioning. Most pertinent to
SAD, melatonin resets circadian rhythms
that control recurrent biological fluctua
tions such as sleep cycles, body tempera
ture and hormone secretions.
According to research, the body’s natu
ral clock and circadian rhythms face con
fusion as exposure to sunlight decreases
and levels of melatonin increase.
As winter’s late sunrise and early sunset
disorient students’ bodily rhythms, sleep
ing provides less rest and recovery.
Disturbance in peoples’ natural rhythm
accounts for 65 percent of SAD symptoms,
according to NIMH studies.
For students crunching to the semester’s
end, increased fatigue and stress can insti
gate a downward spiral. Once students are
frustrated, even slight disappointments can
overwhelm to the point of depression.
“A student might find life increasingly
bleak and that things aren’t much fun
anymore. Then, they might find that lit
tle things are bothering them a lot. They
might also find it takes a great effort to get
anything done, that they’re tired more than
they want or should be. Then, they may
blame themselves for the whole thing,”
Bruce said.
Hallihark symptoms of depression in
clude loss of interest in activities or de
pressed mood most of the day nearly every
day, according to the Diagnostic and Sta
tistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
The manual lists seven other symptoms:
weight fluctuation without diet, insomnia
or hypersomnia, psychomotor retardation
or agitation, fatigue or loss of energy, feel
ings of worthlessness or excessive guilt.
diminished ability to think or concentrate
and recurrent thoughts of or attempts at
suicide.
According to the DSM-IV, students ex
periencing five of these nine symptoms,
including at least one hallmark symptom,
should seek help immediately.
“Don’t wait or try to find the bottom
before getting help - there isn’t any bot
tom. Suicide is a risk for people who are
depressed. Depression is a dangerous dis
order,” Bruce said.
One study of depressed patients, con
ducted by John Greist, found jogging to be
just as effective and longer-lasting in treat
ing depression as medicine.
Greist’s study involved three groups of
depressed patients.
The first group received medications to
treat their depression.
The second group, or experimental
group, jogged for short periods throughout
the span of a few months without medica
tions. The third control group, while close
ly monitored, abstained from any form of
treatment during the study.
At the end of his study, Greist found both
treatment groups improved equally.
However, in follow-up reports, the pa
tients in the experimental jogging group
stayed better longer.
The group treated with medicine experi
enced relapses in a relatively short period
of time.
Delays
Continued from Page 3
Asbestos removal ranks highest in pri
ority when it comes to renovating Carmi
chael. According to Baxley, specialists
keep the area wet and secured to ensure
nobody inhales asbestos.
“We have to hire a contractor that is li
censed by the state in asbestos removal,”
he said. “People aren’t going to just show
with sledgehammers and start busting
out walls.”
The state of North Carolina appropriated
$1-3 million for renovation planning, the
first of three phases of a project. Accord-
■ng to Baxley, space and necessity are key
elements of planning a renovation.
“We did (get money), but in the dire
circumstances that money was withdrawn
3nd We had to start over on that project,”
Chancellor Anne Ponder said to the new
board of governors. “To have an inferior,
inappropriate, unsafe, too-small facility is
a huge issue.”
. According to Pierce, universities con
stantly seek new ways to expand academic
space to improve education and have to
convince the state the need for renovation
is necessary for academic improvement.
“There’s always a possibility that there
can be a donation, and it can be signifi
cant,” he said. “But it’s a little unusual to
think that, if we call it $20-plus million,
could come from one donation.”
Baxley said officials teach building oc
cupants how to control potential hazards.
“If they are storing flammable items in a
stairwell, which is a fire hazard, we will be
talking to them,” he said. “On the things
that they can’t control, those are issues that
we’re addressing with our higher head
quarters, General Administration and the
legislators.”
UNCA spends $1.66 per square foot on
energy compared to the North Carolina av
erage of more than $2 and saves the state
more than $800 annually. According to
Pierce, Carmichael Hall is the least energy-
efficient building on campus.
“Looking at the energy efficiency, the en
ergy consumption of this building (Carmi
chael) is five times more than New Hall,”
he said. “The percentage of space in need
of renovation is 48 percent compared to
the university average of 33 percent.”
UNCA’s energy savings return to the
state rather than the university, according
to Pierce.
“It gives us a lot of ‘attaboys,’” he said.
“If there was a big increase in utility cost,
the university wouldn’t have to carry all
that burden. On the flipside of things, if we
have huge energy savings, it doesn’t come
back to us. It goes back to the state.”
Due to Carmichael’s pre-1973 construc
tion, when energy was cheaper, the build
ing is highly inefficient compared to newer
buildings on campus, according to Baxley.
-“You can do things like we did in New
Hall and get tremendous energy savings
,like being able to move heat-load in the
building. We can move heat from one end
of the building to the other without having
to generate new heat,” he said.