Depression kills
Afflicted must be helped before it’s too late
BARB CHURCHILL is a
graduate student in wood
winds performance and a
Daily Nebraskan colum
nist.
About seven years ago, my best
friend killed himself.
Larry was 38, a gifted bowler, and
had many friends. However, no one
knew that he was ill with depression.
If we had known, it’s possible that
he would be alive today, because sui
cidal depression is treatable.
“If you know that a friend or rela
tive is suicidal, you must help them,”
said Ruth Few, clinical social worker
at Lincoln General Hospital.
Call a crisis line, call the police,
or call a pastor; but call someone. Do
not fail to act.
Suicidal people aren’t rational,
and are incapable of making their
own decisions. We should not feel
bad about temporarily making deci
sions for suicidal individuals,
because with treatment, their judg
ment will return.
“It’s remarkable to see a person
recover. Someone who was slow to
speak and unable to concentrate
becomes bright, alert and rational
again,” Few said.
People with depression, like
Larry, have a physical, treatable ill
ness.
In fact, 80 to 90 percent of people
who seek treatment will find relief,
with a combination of psychoactive
drugs and therapy. However, there is
still such a stigma that people like
Larry refuse to get help. They say,
“I’m not crazy. I’m not depressed. I
don’t need counseling.” Then, they go
off alone and pull the trigger, slit their
wrists, or inhale carbon monoxide.
If I had known that Larry was sui
cidal, I would have intervened.
But, no one knew. We couldn’t
help him. He wouldn’t let us.
Maybe he was afraid that we
wouldn’t like him any more, that we
wouldn’t accept him.
This is common with people with
depressive illnesses. The tendency is
to isolate yourself. As Kathy
Cronkite, author of “On the Edge of
Darkness: Conversations About
Conquering Depression,” said in a
speech in Lincoln recently,
“Depression is the loneliest illness
there is.”
We often shut others out when we
should be reaching out instead.
Depression has been diagnosed in
about 17.4 million people, yet many
still fail to understand the ramifica
tions of this disease. That includes
many people who are depressed but
don’t know it. Some researchers esti
mate that there are at least twice as
many people that go undiagnosed
with depression, including my friend
Larry.
Since 15 percent of people with
untreated depression will commit sui
cide, the disease is a major concern.
There are many misconceptions
about depression. Depression, goes
the myth, only affects the poor, the
elderly, the chronically ill, the chemi
cally dependent or the dying.
In actuality, depression is a
nondiscriminatory illness, affecting
all ages, races and economic back
grounds.
One of the most prevalent views is
that people with depression are not
sick, that they are just faking in order
to get sympathy. This is completely
false, as celebrated author William
Styron, author of “Sophie’s Choice,”
would tell you. As Styron states in
“Darkness Visible: A Memoir of
Madness,” “The ferocious inward
ness of the pain produced an
immense distraction that prevented
my articulating words beyond a
hoarse murmur; I sensed myself turn
ing wall-eyed, monosyllabic, and also
I sensed my ... friends becoming
uneasily aware of my predicament.”
If an erudite man like Styron can
be so diminished, imagine how bad it
is to be a “normal” person with this
illness.
Think about it. No other known
illness changes the way that we think,
the way we feel, and the way we live.
When we are depressed, our personal
ities alter, and we fail to trust those
closest to us.
My friend Larry obviously felt the
need to remove himself from all of his
friends. He told one friend he’d be
one place and told another he had
been to a different one. No one knew
that he had died until we hadn’t seen
him in more than a week.
And by then, it was much too late.
Our society is made up of rugged
individualists. This may be why so
many people, including close friends
and family members, inadvertently
hurt people who are suffering with
depression.
In Larry’s case, he did try to reach
out to his father. His dad told him to
“pick himself up by his bootstraps.”
This attitude is prevalent among the
uninformed public. Unfortunately, it
is just plain wrong. It’s like telling a
person with a heart attack to just
relax, take a few aspirin, and “please
don’t let the door hit you in the rear on
the way out.”
This advice certainly didn’t help
Larry. Instead, it told him that he did
n’t have a right to feel pain.
The general public, as well as our
government, misunderstands and
fears mental illness. In some
instances, depression is far more
treatable, yet people like Nebraska
Attorney General Don Stenberg still
get it wrong.
Recently, Stenberg made news
when he said that depression should
not be covered under the Americans
with Disabilities Act. Stenberg’s
comment is alarming, saying that
“neither state government, nor any
private employer, can effectively
operate if any employee is free to say
they are mentally depressed, do little
or no work and collect their full pay
check while the court prohibits an
employer from firing the employee or
reducing the employee’s pay.”
The attorney general needs his
consciousness raised. No one wants
to be depressed on purpose. Ruth Few
agreed, and said, “It’s absurd to think
that the attorney general of Nebraska
is so ignorant regarding depression.”
There is no way in the world that a
depressed person would miss work
without honestly being ill. When
most depressed people already have
low self-esteem and feelings of
worthlessness and hopelessness, why
would they want to sabotage them
selves any further? Cronkite said
depression wrecked her relation
ships, interfered with her schooling
and ruined her life. Until she knew
that it was a treatable illness, and
NOT a stigma, she couldn’t help her
self.
Yet people continue to fear the
word “depression.” As Cronkite said,
“Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just say,
‘Hi, I’m Kathy. I have blond hair, blue
eyes and depression?”’
Ruth Few agreed with Cronkite,
and said we must move past societal
misconceptions. Styron wrote in his
book how hospitalization and drug
therapy helped him. Cronkite said
that she was only able to accept her
depressive illness after a personal
friend of her father’s admitted that he
too was depressed.
Yet, the message is too late for
some.
Larry might still be alive today if
he had only realized that he wasn’t
crazy. He was just sick, and could
possibly get better. He might have
gone for help. Unfortunately, that
never happened, and a life that mat
tered has been snuffed out.
You do not need to live in fear of
the darkness within.
Please, in the memory of my
friend Larry, seek help if you feel
despair, hopelessness, worthlessness,
or are actively suicidal. Call 472
7450, the Counseling and
Psychological Services Center at the
University Health Center. Or, call
Lincoln General Hospital at 475
1011.
It’s too late for Larry. It doesn’t
have to be too late for you.
it-—
Larry might still be alive today if he had only realized that he
wasn’t crazy. ... He might have gone for help. Unfortunately; that
never happened, and a life that mattered has been snuffed out.”
Clash of the titans
Preference between ‘Dukes ofHazzard‘CHiPs’ defines who you are
■—a i i n if i ini w—
TODD MUNSON is a junior
broadcasting major and a
Daily Nebraskan colum
nist.
Every day we make choices.
Cat or dog.
Ford or Chevy. Apple or IBM.
Coke or Pepsi (off campus of
course).
Beer that tastes great or beer that is
less filling.
Then there is the important choice.
The one that determines who you are as
a person.
Are you a “CHiPs” person, or a
“Dukes of Hazzard” person?
Out of the choices mentioned
above, nothing can determine your
character as can your affiliation to
these two programs.
For eight years, young minds were
molded and shaped by the actions of
these two shows. Granted, bn the sur
face, they are very similar, much as
Coke is to Pepsi. They both starred
very dapper men and both featured
vehicular mayhem, all in one action
packed hour.
But once you’ve analyzed these two
shows for most of your life as I have,
you’ll see the two are as fundamentally
different as Chewbacca and Kermit the
Frog. And the one you choose to like
best says who you are as a person.
When “CHiPs ’ debuted, it was a
breakthrough for television. The char
acter of Ponch (the dreamy Erik
Estrada) was the first Hispanic actor to
star in a television series. Together,
Ponch and John Baker preached the
merits of obeying the law and practic
ing safe driving. Between arrests, they
introduced America to the hippest
trends: jet skis, Satanic music, g
roller disco and ultra-white teeth.
They were such good cops that
they never once had to draw their V
weapons. Granted the show is an
icon of ’70s kitsch, but the message ^
it sent was a positive one.
In 1979, the same year the
Sugaihill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”
was bom, “Dukes of Hazzard” hit the
air. The show focused on two good ol’
boys having some fan. For five of its
six seasons, “Dukes” was consistently
in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings.
When I watch the show today, I see
nothing but dire filth. Bo and Luke
weren’t the heroes, but criminals who
had you conned into cheering for them.
If this show came out today, there is no
way it would air. Let’s see, the “good
guys” smuggle moonshine, practice
incest, and speed around in a souped
up muscle car emblazoned with a con
federate flag, trying to escape the law.
Oftentimes, these chase scenes featured
a lot of gun-play or other weapons. The
Duke boys usually managed to escape,
but sometimes, they’d end up in jail -
the only place you’d see a minority.
Because of this attitude of lawless
ness presented by “The Dukes of
Hazzard,” I feel die show is responsible
for our generation’s lack of respect for
the police and the laws they enforce.
The next time you see someone speed
ing through a red light, chances are
they are a “Dukes” fan.
Chippies, con
versely, would stop
while it was
still yellow.
One
Aaron Steckelberg/DN vN
look across the World Wide Web
and you’ll see that America f
thinks the lawless image the L
Duke boys promoted was much nT
more popular than the positive
message ofPonch and John. Type
in “Dukes of Hazzard” on a Netscape
search engine and you’ll get a list
of-1 kid you not -
10,257,772 sites. “CHiPs”^_
has only a few hundred.
Seeing this figure, I got a
wild hair and set out on a mission. I
wanted to see if the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln was a “CHiPs”
school or a “Dukes of Hazzard” school.
Last week, I cruised campus pre
tending to be a journalist and asked 100
people which show they liked better
and why. I got some very interesting
responses.
My first call was to NRoll. If you
push the “#” sign 903 times, you can
actually speak to the voice behind it all.
Mr. NRoll said, “I like ‘CHiPs’ more
because ‘The Dukes’ is incredibly
' inane.’
^ CHiPs’is
too, but I like
fthe motorcy
cles.”
f The next
' ' response was
thereason why I
beheve “Dukes” was so bad for young
minds. Chris, who said he was major
ing in anarchy, said, ‘“Dukes’ of course,
because in one episode you can learn
how to make a bomb.”
Justin, an English major, said,
“‘CHiPs’ is by far superior. It ain’t got
all those hillbillies.’”
Interested in what our student lead
ers thought, I called the Association of
the Students of the University of
Nebraska office. A man named
Malcom, who said his title was “Amish
sex god,” said, “I always admired
Cooter’s tow truck.” Careful research
showed me that the only ASUN
“Amish sex god” is none other
j than our sec
\ onc* v^ce
pir
\ final tally
1 \ had 68
votes for
“Dukes”
p. the majority
V\ because
WV \ Daisy was
/L so hot
31 for “CHiPs”
and one for
both. The fence
l sitter was a fel
, low named Mike who
said, “A definitive choice between
“CHiPs” and “The Dukes” does not
have to be made. It’s two different gen
res.” I tried to aigue with him on this
point saying you had to like one or the
other, but it turns out hefe die kingpin of
the UNL Forensics Team. (That Is speech
and debate folks.) When he finished his
argument, he had me convinced that I
was wearing lady’s underwear.
It’s not surprising that UNL is a
“Dukes of Hazzard” school. The signs
are all around: Cars maiming bicyclists
as they speed through red lights, stu
dents getting caught boosting lumber,
rampant underage drinking, and a poor
attitude toward minorities.
This-is just another example of how
television can rot your mind. Heck, it
caused me to think of and write this dri
vel.