For something that consumes about a third of our lives, sleep does not always go smoothly – because when some of the brain’s sleep mechanisms malfunction, serious medical problems can develop.

These disorders aren’t as uncommon as is believed. Almost everyone has had some experience with a sleeping disorder – like having trouble getting to sleep the night before a big event, or being unable to get up for 9am after 12 hours of solid sleep – or even waking up on your living room floor, with no idea how you got there.

In fact, surveys have shown that approximately 30 per cent of the general population has a sleeping disorder. More than half of those over 65 experience disturbed sleep, while a quarter of under-5s have some problem sleeping.

There are a total of 84 classified sleep disorders, which can be lumped into two broad categories: parasomnias and dyssomnias. Parasomnias involve unnatural movements, emotions and perceptions while sleeping or awakening. These include sleep-sex, sleep-walking and sleep-talking, teeth grinding and night terrors. On the other hand, dyssomnias are sleep disorders involving either too little or too much sleep, such as insomnia, sleep paralysis and hypersomnia.

Disorders such as insomnia are increasingly frequent around the globe, affecting one in ten people. There’s no single definition of insomnia that applies to all sufferers, but a general definition is having difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep over a period of at least three weeks. This deficit of nighttime sleep can create daytime fatigue, impairing mental and physical function during the waking hours. There can be many triggers, but one of the most commonly reported causes is stress – especially job-related anxiety. Other triggers include depression, lack of exercise, and poor sleeping habits.

There are many different ways to treat insomnia. Often a doctor may prescribe sleeping medication, but these can exacerbate the situation. Insomnia is not a disease that can be corrected with medication; it is rather a symptom of other personal or physical problems, such as high levels of stress, or physical pain or discomfort. Patients who take medications develop a tolerance to them, meaning that larger and larger doses are needed with time. Insomniacs also suffer rebound symptoms if they cease taking the medication, or try to take smaller doses, finding that they can’t sleep properly without a full dose. This common syndrome is called drug dependency insomnia.

On the other side of the scale lies hypersomnia, characterised by excessive amounts of sleep. Patients with hypersomnia will have no problem getting to sleep – in fact, they often experience recurrent bouts of drowsiness during the day, but even frequent naps do nothing to relieve symptoms. Even after 12-14 hours of sleep every night, they will have trouble waking up the next morning, and often be tired and unresponsive.

The Klein-Levin Syndrome, also nicknamed the Sleeping Beauty Disease, is the most known form of recurrent hypersomnia, involving long periods of acute drowsiness. These episodes can last from several days to several weeks, with the person sleeping close to 23 hours a day, only waking up to eat or go to the bathroom. Very little is known about its causes and treatments.

Narcolepsy is another sleeping disorder where the person has abnormal and unpredictable sleep patterns, and is characterised by recurrent “sleep attacks” that the patient cannot fight, usually lasting about 10-20 minutes. The sufferer feels refreshed by the sleep, but will often feel sleepy again several hours later.

A narcoleptic attack can include not only a bout of severe sleepiness, but also a loss in muscle tone and stability (cataplexy), which often forces the sufferer to collapse. This means that a person with narcoleptic cataplexy can enter deep sleep at inopportune moments – the sufferer could be walking down the street, watching TV, cooking dinner, or – even more worryingly – driving or doing something that requires full attention.

The exact causes of narcolepsy have not been fully documented, but some scientists believe that it is caused by the brain’s inability to adjust to a normal sleep-wake cycle. Other researchers have found that a malfunction in the immune system could be to blame. Both sides agree, however, that certain people are genetically predisposed to this disorder.

Narcolepsy is one of the most unusual and least common sleep disorders, affecting one in 4,000 people, but it’s not limited to humans – there have been case studies of narcoleptic dogs, and cats suffering bouts of cataplexy. There is no cure for narcolepsy, but in humans, it’s often treated by prescribing stimulant amphetamines, while antidepressants can help control cataplexy attacks.

Parasomnias are quite different from dyssomnias. The patient usually finds no problem with getting to sleep and staying asleep. Parasomnias are sometimes described as disorders of physiological arousal during sleep. The most well-known parasomnias are sleepwalking and sleeptalking, and some bizarre instances have even involved sleep-sex.

Sleepwalking (or ‘somnambulism’) occurs when the states of being awake and being asleep occur at the same time. The eyes are open and the muscles active, allowing sleepwalkers to act on the whims of their half-conscious brains – to quote Shakespeare, their “eyes are open, but their sense is shut.”

Sleepwalking is most common in children, with up to 17 per cent of under-12s experiencing one or more episodes during their childhoods, though this is something the child often grows out of. Roughly four per cent of adults still experience somnambulism, and the disorder appears to have a genetic factor, running in families. One researcher reported a family of grown members who were reunited for a holiday celebration. In the middle of the night they awoke to find that they had all gathered in the living room – in their sleep.

Somnambulists can do other bizarre things in their sleep, from merely walking around, and unlocking doors, to raiding the fridge, or having conversations with themselves or others in their sleep. This writer was privy to seeing an unnamed friend sit up in bed, eyes half-closed, bellowing “The key, the key! Where is the key?” before falling back to sleep. Other instances include waking up to find said friend sleepwalking repeatedly into the wall, or trying and failing to open the bedroom door.

Most people perceive sleepwalking as a comic, mildly embarrassing occurrence, and there are many anecdotes like the ones above – of sleepwalkers eating half the contents of the fridge and contentedly curling up on the kitchen floor, ‘redecorating’ the living room with muesli and moving furniture around, or putting their slippers in the microwave.

Although it is true that most instances of sleepwalking cause the individual no harm, others can be extremely dangerous – and even fatal – to the sleepwalker and those around them. Recently there have been many tragic examples of death through somnambulism, such as that of teenager Troy Heather who sleepwalked off a balcony during a holiday abroad.  There’s also a frightening increase in the number of ‘sleepdriving’ cases, in which sleepwalkers have gotten into their cars and driven for sometimes long distances, paying very little attention to traffic lights or other cars, and sometimes causing horrific road accidents.

Scientists are still not fully sure what exactly causes somnambulism, but they have discovered many relevant factors. In chronic sleepwalkers, for example, scientists have identified an accompanying respiratory disorder, which when fixed, lessens the recurrance of sleepwalking over time. Other factors include alcohol, drugs, and sleep deprivation, which is known to trigger sleepwalking in susceptible persons. Spending over 30 consecutive hours awake greatly increases the chance that a person will sleepwalk during their ‘recovery sleep’ that night.

Sleeptalking can be triggered by similar causes, but is much more common. Those who are awake can carry a conversation with the sleeptalker, as well as implant ideas into their heads. Sleeptalkers are usually very suggestible during this time.

Another disorder similar to sleepwalking is sleep-sex, a parasomnia that causes people to engage in sexual acts in their sleep. They may even go as far as sexual assault or rape, and have no memory of it the next morning. People who have a history of sleepwalking or sleep talking are more likely to exhibit sexsomnia episodes. There have been relatively few case studies of this disorder; the first legal case of sleep-sex was brought as recently as 2005 when a York man, charged with rape, was acquitted after being diagnosed with sexomnia. On the other side of the globe, an Australian woman was reported as leaving her house at night and having sex with strangers while sleepwalking.

So from insomnia to hypersomnia, sleepwalking to sleeptalking, there are many things that can go wrong during sleep. Sweet dreams…

Marijuana, weed, pot, grass, hash, reefe… the product of the plant Cannabis Sativa has been called many things throughout the years. With its earliest recorded usage being in the third millennium B.C., marijuana has been around for thousands of years.

Over five thousand years ago, Chinese physicians used it as anaesthetic, while the shamans of the Dacians – as well as the Hindus of Nepal and India – believed it to be a sacred drug and burned cannabis flowers in order to induce a state of trance. Many other cultures, such as the ancient Assyrians, Persians and Aryans, used it during important religious ceremonies.

But presently, there has been a large amount of debate and controversy over the legality of marijuana. One side is trying to legalise marijuana, while the other side battles to close the increasing number of Head Shops dotted around the country, which are sell ‘herbal’ cannabis by means of a loophole in legislation.

Marijuana has had a turbulent legal history – but ironically, the first cannabis law to ever exist was enacted in the state of Virginia in 1619, which actually ordered farmers to grow hemp, a variety of the cannabis plant. The next significant legislation, called the Marijuana Tax Act, was about in 1937. This tax stamp led to an instant halt in the production and usage of hemp and marijuana, declaring all forms of cannabis to be illegal. Illegal it would stay, except for a brief stint during the Second World War – the main reason for its original ban being that it was believed to make people violent.

Certainly this notion was not true. In this day and age we know that, for the most part, marijuana has the opposite effect: it induces relaxation. Short-term effects include a notable change in mood, increased heart rate, lowered blood pressure, and impairment in motor coordination and short-term memory.

Long-term effects are a lot less clear, but some studies report a shift in perception, and loss of drive and energy.  The user is more likely, in the words of one particularly opinionated study, to “become relaxed and lose interest in engaging in society, being content to sit around and smoke pot in their basement all day.” There’s also uncorroborated evidence that excessive use can lead to a decrease in mental capacity – in short, that it kills off brain cells.

But official studies have shown that prolonged use in young teens right through to adulthood can have damaging effects on their development, both social and psychological, as well as exacerbating existing genetic conditions of mental illness such as schizophrenia or psychosis. Other research has shown that the children of mothers who used it during pregnancy were more likely to develop problems with psychological development.

Another argument against marijuana is that it can act as a ‘gateway drug’ – that using it increases the probability of the person graduating to harder drugs. Some theorists have described pot as a stepping stone to cocaine. The ‘gateway’ theory has a valid point – because of the illegality of cannabis, its users are more likely to find themselves in situations which allow them to meet people who deal stronger drugs.

The legality of cannabis has been much debated, however, because it also has its benefits.  Recent research has shown us that small amounts of unadulterated marijuana may be even good for you. Experiments showed that there’s a solid possibility that controlled amounts of clean marijuana could stimulate the brain cells, improving memory and overall intelligence.

Cannabis actually has significant medicinal value – it can slow Alzheimer’s, relieve pain and stress, increase appetite, and alleviate nausea. Indeed, many medical conditions respond favourably to it, such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety and others.

Yet another myth about the drug was busted recently by Dr Donald Tashkin, emeritus professor at UCLA, who has published evidence finding that marijuana – when smoked the correct way – is not a direct cause of lung carcinoma. In fact, other studies have shown that excessive alcohol consumption has a much worse effect on an individual’s brain cells than a couple of ‘joints’. In fact, during the ten thousand years of marijuana usage, there hasn’t been a single documented case of death from marijuana alone.

Many experts predicted that keeping marijuana banned would do very little to actually stamp out its usage. And they were right – the States currently have one of the largest underground markets of any country, and approximately 0.8 per cent of the world’s adult population use it on a daily basis.

Activists for the legalisation of hash often liken the ongoing ban on marijuana to the prohibition of alcohol in America in the 1920’s, which failed disastrously – alcohol abuse escalated during those years of prohibition, creating even more social problems. Many believe that the same is happening with marijuana.

Keeping marijuana use illegal has created many problems. With no quality control, anything can be added to the bag, which makes underground cannabis potentially dangerous to a person’s health. Also, no control means anyone who knows the right people can access it- there’s no way to stop it from falling into the hands of children or adolescents. Thus, many believe that shutting down the Head Shops would merely push marijuana even further underground and cause even more damage.

The legality of marijuana is a strongly contested issue, and many people believe that marijuana should have no criminal penalty attached to it – and yet, marijuana remains as illegal now as it was seventy years ago.

All of us have probably heard the words ‘just friends’ used in some context or other, usually describing a purely platonic relationship between two people of opposite sexes. Similarly, most have heard of the myth surrounding this matter: that men and women simply cannot be friends. According to Harry Burns, an affable character from the film When Harry Met Sally: “Men and women can’t be friends – the sex part gets in the way.”

These famous words reflect the countless debates on this topic since time immemorial. Whether between relationship psychologists or drunken students crowded into a bar, the debate rages to this day.

One side of the argument states that men and women were destined to have purely romantic relationships, and that all existing cross-sex friendships are based purely on lust. On the other hand, some believe that in this modern day, men and women are capable of having purely platonic friendships.

There are probably grains of truth in both arguments. The way we view our relationships is still influenced, to some extent, by past times: in the previous era, society held the romance-only position; in fact, it was a scandal for a married man or woman to befriend someone of the opposite sex at all. Back then, men and women lived in different worlds: the women stayed at home while the men went off to work, so the main attraction was often purely a romantic one.

But changing times now mean that men and women stand on an equal ground – they live, work and relax together, often keeping sexual involvement and friendships separate.  But in modern society, to quote Harry Burns, does the ‘sex part’ still get in the way? According to Hollywood, it certainly does.

It seems that modern pop culture is veering towards an old-fashioned stance – nowadays, television teaches us that every male-female friendship will inevitably blossom into romance. This message is obvious in many romcoms and in chick flicks like Maid of Honour, When Harry Met Sally, Sex Drive, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Just Friends, 13 Going On 30… the list goes on and on. In fact, even the Harry Potter series isn’t immune to the trend, as evident in the changing relationship between Ron and Hermione. It seems that according to Hollywood, men and women just aren’t meant to have purely platonic relationships – and that being ‘just friends’ simply doesn’t happen. On the silver screen, friendship is merely a barrier that must be overcome in order for the pair to live happily ever after.

This sort of mindset has crept into everyday life – in the real world today, when a man and woman stand talking together, people can be quick to jump to conclusions. Many people point-blank refuse to believe that such men and women can be ‘just friends’, and in a recent online survey, over a third of participants admitted to feeling jealousy over their boyfriend or girlfriend having close friends of the opposite sex.

Another mindset in today’s culture is the belief that male-female friendships are based on one person (often the man) nursing an attraction, with the other person dutifully ignoring it for the sake of the friendship. Online surveys and unofficial research have shown that many women, in fact, experience a friendship with a man regardless of whether they find him attractive or not, though men are more likely to strike up friendships with a woman they find attractive. Although these findings can’t be fully verified, at the very least they highlight a predominant trend. But culture is one thing: what do the real experts think?

Psychologists agree that there are many barriers, both psychological and social, to men and women being able to remain as platonic friends. These divides and biases manifest themselves early in life – from the age of five or six, boy and girls begin to play mostly with others of their gender, with the sexes only meeting again at the start of adolescence.

In juvenile society it was – and still is – seen as somehow inappropriate for a girl to be friends with mostly boys, and vice versa. Each sex is required to fit its own gender stereotype – a girl shouldn’t go haring off with a group of boys to climb trees, while a boy shouldn’t show interest in girls’ games. While this situation has certainly changed in the past years, an echo still remains.

Another substantial barrier to male-female friendships is the fact that the deeper the feelings of friendship between a man and woman, the greater the chance of them being more than just good friends. This means that friendship can often turn into a romantic relationship – a survey by Match.com showed that 62 per cent of participants have had a platonic relationship that had crossed the line and became romantic or sexual.

But no matter how long relationship gurus and psychology enthusiasts drone on about sexual tensions and secret desires, it must be admitted that there are also numerous exceptions to the rule. There are some friendships that are based purely on platonic love – as too many of us know, not every friendship winds up turning into romance.

Another interesting exception was discovered by a study by J.W. Shepherd. Do you remember the neighbour’s boy who used to swim naked in your paddling-pool with you? Or the best friend you’ve known since Junior Infants, whom your parents always secretly wished you’d marry, despite his acne, scrawny chicken legs and his aversion to personal hygiene? In most cases, you won’t be able to think of such childhood friends in an amorous way, no matter what, and this reaction has a deep-seated psychological importance behind it.

Through his research of a kibbutz community in India, Shepherd found that if children, whether related or not, are reared together or in close proximity, it will act as a sexual aversion, preventing them seeing each other as potential lovers later. Thus, Shepherd concluded that prepubescent friendship acts as a mental deterrent against future romances between two parties.

More than a decade of research has passed since the release of When Harry Met Sally, and yet we still have no conclusive result about whether men and women can be ‘just friends’ or not. Looks like it’s up to you all to decide for yourselves!

It’s that time of year again, when the days grow short, the trees on campus lose their golden leaves, and the college libraries slowly but surely fill with anxious-looking students, all vying to use the photocopier at the same time, or running around the stacks in a frenzy, trying to find that elusive, but much-needed book.

The end of autumn marks the start of that dreaded time – that’s right, Semester One exam season has officially begun.

But it must be noted that exam season panic strikes at different times for each individual: for some this time of peril begins in the middle of week 10 or earlier; for others it starts the day before their first exam.

You know the types, the ‘ah it’s grand, I’ll just pull an all-nighter’ ones…yeah you, listen up! Cramming twelve weeks’ information into your brain in one night might seem possible, but it won’t stay there, unless something else gets pushed out. You could stroll in to that exam knowing the exact dates of every battle in the Franco-Prussian War, but I bet you can’t tie your shoelaces any more.

Let’s face it, we’ve all done the last minute cramming, people who haven’t are either too arrogant or too stupid to care. But no matter how late or how early in the semester you start studying, we can all admit that exam time is a stressful time. Exams not only take a toll on your social life, but also on your health and general wellbeing.

Many students all over the country admit to feeling stressed out and under too much pressure, with some reporting recurring headaches and fatigue, especially over the last few weeks leading up to exams, when there are projects to be handed up, and twelve weeks of lecture doodles to sort through, decipher and learn. Or, you know, download from Blackboard.

Here in UCD, countless students feel that exam stress is more pronounced in the first semester than in the second. Semester One doesn’t even have a mid-term break, which could be used to go over some of the coursework, or even to just catch up on some sleep. According to quite a large number of students, it would be preferable to have a week’s break at Halloween and three at Christmas, instead of spending a whole month lounging around at home over the holidays, eating Mammy’s cooking, putting on weight and watching daytime TV. Not that that’s not brilliant too.

Another issue with exams is the debate that has been simmering for years: that of whether or not exams are the right method for testing a person’s understanding of the curriculum. It has been argued extensively that exams don’t encourage the individual to grasp the coursework. Most modules involve some form of project or essay to be handed up, but there are still many modules where an overwhelming proportion of the marks hinge on the end-of-semester exam.

Another problem is that there are too many subjects to study for, and not nearly enough time to get an in-depth understanding of all of them. Students are bombarded with facts, diagrams, and endless definitions. We are exposed to an enormous pool of information, but rarely are we ever taught how to remember this information correctly. It is entirely possible to learn off definitions, phrases and even whole paragraphs, while at the same time having very little comprehension of what they actually mean. If Leaving Cert Irish taught us anything, it was this nugget of wisdom.

What most pupils and students are not taught is that there are actually two types of studying: shallow learning and deep learning. Yes yes, here comes the science.

As the name implies, shallow learning involves skimming over the meaning of the information, and learning off a series of words to regurgitate in the upcoming exam. Shallow learning is basically saying the item over and over, in the hope that it will be remembered. It’s handy for the aforementioned battle dates, but not much else unless you have background info for all the items on the list.

Deep learning involves more than rote repetition – you must aim to process the information and think deeply about its meaning, and then elaborate on it. This means that the information has a much bigger chance of being stored in your long-term memory. Think of it as an information fantasy if you will, give your different facts characters and traits and behaviour models, then watch them play out during your exam. Just don’t forget to write it down after, otherwise you’re just that weird person who thinks atherosclerosis is akin to Clare County Council workers’ dodgy pothole filling after someone’s been and damaged the road surface. And ok it doesn’t make the road narrower per se, but you have to think in three dimensional terms and…oh just write it down before you fall asleep in the RDS.

Apart from using deep learning when you study, there are many other things you can do to make this exam season a little easier on yourself. The main advice is to start studying now. As well as that, avoid all-nighters at any cost, take short breaks during study sessions, and whatever you do, stay away from that hell-brew called coffee.

Good luck in the exams!

Studying in the library is detrimental to your overall health and wellbeing, a fact proven by many authentic and intellectual sources (namely myself, the bike shop guy, and that dude I met while searching for a book on the mating habits of jellyfish). Our collective findings have pinpointed the most annoying personalities that you could ever find in the communal library study area, the type of people that make it impossible for anyone else to stay focused for more than 3.14 seconds.

At joint first place we have the coughers and sniffers: you know, the ones that are loudly dying in the back of the room while you desperately try to cram a whole semester’s worth of knowledge into your head. These days, there appear to be whole bands of these ‘unclean’ wandering the study areas, all sniffling in harmony and spreading the Dog Flu or what-have-you.

Next on the list is the loud eater who sits down beside you and ‘secretly’ begins to unwrap his grub under the desk, positive that nobody can hear him. Then, oblivious to the agonised rumbling of all the stomachs around him, he proceeds to savour a breakfast roll of such proportions that it would leave a sumo wrestler clutching his chest in agony.

The Muncher is closely followed by the mystical Library Warden, who can be found prowling the computer area for evil-doers, shushing people for turning pages too loudly and generally being a sod.

And finally, did I mention those evil, evil students who hog all the best books for themselves? The worst library study experience you will ever have occurs two days before your first exam, when you find that your lecture notes for the whole semester contain drool marks from you falling asleep, and little comic strips of your lecturers meeting their untimely deaths in humorous fashion. But before the panic can set in, an organised friend texts you the name and reference code of a book that sums up your entire semester’s lectures and, ecstatic with hope, you float to the library desk – only for the smiling librarian to inform you that the last copy of Environmental Bullshit has just been checked out, but do come back in two weeks time.

So, to sum up our wonderful survey, studying in the library makes you tired, hungry and just downright annoyed. It also increases your chances of catching the Black Death from the untouchables, so take heed and avoid this place of illrepute – just study at home instead.

So what is depression? Is it a phase, an illness, or a symptom subconsciously made up to get attention? Everyone’s opinion differs: in the time of older generations it was considered a mental illness, while in the minds of youths, it will forever be associated with goths and emo kids that wear eyeliner and skulk around the place, hiding from the searing rays of the sun and moaning about how the world hates them.

But depression is a serious mood change that involves persistent and severe feelings of sadness and worthlessness, often along with problems sleeping, changes in appetite, and unsociable behaviour. According to statistics, depression is on the rise, with recent studies suggesting that roughly seven per cent of people aged 21 and over will suffer an episode of depression at some point during their lives. The US is greatly affected, with 1 in 5 American adults suffering from some form of depression.

The statistics for children and youths are much more worrying: in Ireland, as many as 0.5 per cent of children and 15 per cent of adolescents aged 13-21 experience a major depression, and suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents in this age group.

As evidenced by these worrying statistics, teens and young adults are much more likely to suffer from a mood disorder, be it depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety or mood swings.

Depressive disorders are exhibited earlier in life with every passing generation. This is happening because although the standard of living has soared since our grandparents’ times, the life of the average teen has become even more fraught with worry and strain. While our grandparents, and maybe even our parents, dealt with a simpler and shorter list of stresses, the modern youth is faced with a never-ending series of trials and hardships such as bullying, peer pressure, relationship problems, exams and much more.

Teenagers at secondary school and young adults starting college are especially at risk, as they are still adjusting to society and trying to find own place among their peers. At this time they are most vulnerable to mood disorders and anxieties.

But depression is in no way limited to angsty teens and college Freshers. Depression doesn’t discriminate between boys or girls, young or old, poor or rich – it can happen to anyone. Everyone has, at one stage or other in their lives, experienced some form of what psychologists call a ‘mood disorder’.

Every single person has felt demoralising days of frustration or sadness, either after a wearisome week at work, when cramming for an important exam, or when faced with a tough decision. For many people, these episodes pass with time; for others there is a chance of them developing into full-blown mood disorders. It is, in fact, estimated that around 17 per cent of people will experience a major episode of depression at some point in their lives.

Mood disorders appear to be prevalent in college though, with many students feeling overloaded with work, worrying about assignments, project deadlines and exams. Many have also reported feeling alone and friendless, especially in the bigger colleges. With almost 25,000 students, UCD can feel daunting and impersonal, especially to first years just finding their feet. Another problem is that it’s considerably harder to make friends in courses such as Arts where any class can have up to 500 students.

Depressed people can’t always put a finger on exactly why they are depressed: in some cases it is a general feeling of low self-worth and helplessness, while in others it has a definite cause. Depression can be caused by both larger negative events, such as the death of a close friend or relative, the loss of a job or failing an exam, or by many small events that contribute to the negative mood, such as a friend forgetting to text back, or being turned down by a member of the opposite sex.

There are also other causes – depression appears to have a genetic component. People whose close relatives have a serious mood disorder are ten times more likely to develop one themselves. In addition, women are twice as likely as men to develop depression, although why this occurs remains unknown.

Another factor that affects mood disorders is the individual’s location. Studies recently found that those living in densely populated areas are 30 per cent more likely to develop depression than their rural counterparts.

Depression can have a severe effect on people. The afflicted often feel they’re ‘not good enough’, that they are being punished for their mistakes, and that every negative event is their fault. People with severe depression often delude themselves into thinking that they are worthless and are disliked. The sad thing is, that the depressed person is caught in a vicious, unbreakable circle: the worse they feel, the more they withdraw from people, which in turn makes them feel even more unpopular and alone, which only serves to strengthen their negative outlook.

People with mood disorders don’t have the same outlook on life. All events are coloured with a negative tint. Negative events are overemphasized; a scratched car or a failed mid-term are seen as the end of the world, while positive events such as getting an A in an exam are attributed to pure luck. In some situations this low self-esteem leads them to blame their miserable situation on their own inadequacies, as well as shutting themselves off from friends and family.

So how can you tell if your friend or relative is not just grumpy or stressed out, but actually clinically depressed? There are five main symptoms of depression – a prolonged sad and apathetic mood, feelings of worthlessness, desire to withdraw from other people, difficulty getting to sleep and waking up very early, and either a loss of appetite or overeating.

Once identified, depression has a number of treatments. The main treatments are therapy or anti-depressant drugs, but the support of family and friends is also crucial. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tries to change the individual’s negative way of thinking, while anti-depressants deal with the physical side of the depression. Although quite effective, these drugs treat the symptoms, not the actual causes of depression. This means that some people begin to relapse once their medication is withdrawn.

But on a brighter note, statistics show that nearly 80 per cent of all depressed people who seek treatment have a significant improvement within a couple of weeks. Such treatment rates make anybody wonder why of every three sufferers, only one might seek professional help?

The main reason is that, to this day, disorders are still thought of as a taboo subject. The flawed idea that depression is a mental illness is hard to shake, and many still believe that a depressed person is somehow abnormal or different from everyone else. Thus many sufferers never seek help, instead choosing to battle it out alone. But this decision can have dire results.

There are currently about 400 deaths from suicide per year in Ireland, but for every death, there are an estimated 10-20 suicide attempts. Statistics also show that almost 70 per cent of these deaths occur in men. These figures are an average for Europe, but unlike others, Ireland has a shockingly high rate of youth suicide. The sad thing is that many of these deaths could have possibly been prevented.

So, if you notice that a friend, a housemate, or even a casual acquaintance, constantly seems gloomy, withdrawn or struggling with despair, don’t ignore their situation. Depression is a serious disorder, which in some cases can be fatal.

If you think that you or someone you know might be depressed, call the UCD Health Centre, you can speak to a counselor or psychiatrist. 01 716 3133

What is the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘hypnotism’? For most people it is the image of a slick fellow in a suit, swinging a golden pocket watch in front of you and chanting ‘You are feeling very, veeeery sleepy.’ Others imagine armies of human zombies, obeying every whim of the charismatic hypnotist – or it might just be Matt Lucas’s character from Little Britain.

These, though, are common misconceptions that the general public has about hypnotism and about how and why it is used. Firstly, there is no need to move an object in front of the volunteer’s face or to tell them that they are feeling drowsy; and secondly, hypnotism is not total mind control. It is based on the person voluntarily giving up control to the hypnotist and eagerly following the suggestions planted in his or her mind.

Also, hypnosis isn’t a deep sleep, but rather a state of focused consciousness, in which the person is in a highly compliant and suggestible frame of mind, while at the same time still being subconsciously aware of all that is going on around him or her.

Many of these misconceptions arise because, to this day, there is still no set medical definition for what hypnosis actually is. One interesting hypothesis is that hypnosis is a normal state of mind, one that most people go in and out of every day. When you are absorbed in watching a film, driving down a long monotonous road, or listening to music that engrosses you, you are in hypnosis. According to this theory, we experience hypnosis every day and don’t even realise it.

But there is quite a lot of strife surrounding the question of what hypnotism is, with many leading researchers disagreeing with each other. Some lines of research stick faithfully to the earlier theory of hypnosis as an altered mental state, while others argue that this process doesn’t reflect an altered state of consciousness but is based on human behaviour – the participant will often want to please the audience and the hypnotist.

But then again, such strife is not uncommon in the history of hypnotism. Hypnotism has been surrounded by controversy ever since its discovery in the late 18th century by Franz Mesmer, an Austrian physician. He originally hit upon it during his attempts to cure people’s ailments by means of passing magnets back and forth over their bodies in order to restore their ’magnetic flux’. This caused them to pass into a trance-like state that allowed him to plant suggestions into their minds, miraculously ‘curing’ minor symptoms and ailments that had arisen from stress and other psychological problems. They were, to coin the phrase, mesmerised.

Since Mesmer’s time, many different methods for hypnotising people have emerged. There’s no actual need for flamboyant rituals and lengthy relaxation techniques- the only important part is that the participant must be aware of the fact that they are going to be hypnotised. It is quite a simple process- it involves directions for relaxation, followed by many different suggestions aimed to produce many different things, such as amnesia, tomfoolery, pain relief, and many more. Hypnotised people are very suggestible and will willingly join with the hypnotist in enacting a role expected of them.

This interesting attribute of hypnosis is taken advantage of in stage hypnotism. Ever since its discovery, stage hypnotists have put on shows in theatres, boathouse clubs and pavilions, shocking and amazing audiences with their abilities of ‘mind control’.

Many stage hypnotists reinforce this belief by using certain tricks and deceptions, such as selecting out the most compliant and suggestible subjects out of the audience, off-microphone commands to the participants, as well as ‘sleight of hand’ tricks that deceive the audience into thinking that they had been under the influence of hypnosis too.

But the amazing thing is that most hypnotists don’t even have to resort to trickery to achieve their baffling feats of ‘mind control’. The main thing is that the person must want to be hypnotised. Hypnosis illustrates a basic human need to fit in – the participants expect to be hypnotised, so when told to go into hypnosis, they instantly obey, as they feel that this is what is expected of them. Most people will go along with the hypnotist’s suggestions, as they know that a hypnotised person is not responsible for his or her actions.

It is also possible that people do what the hypnotist tells them to, no matter how silly the request, because they believe that this is what should happen. Thus the volunteers are happy to dance around the stage, pretend to be animals, and generally make fools of themselves for the general amusement of the audience.

Funny stuff aside, hypnosis also has a serious side. It is used more and more often in modern medicine. Hypnosis in itself cannot cure physical illness, but it is proven to help alleviate pain and discomfort, especially in physical therapy, rehabilitation and during serious illnesses. A number of hospital studies have shown that hypnotherapy before and after major operations has a noticeable positive effect on patients’ recovery times and general wellbeing. Patients that received hypnosis reported less pain, nausea and anxiety post-surgery.

Hypnosis has many other uses. It is used to treat depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress, as well as smoking and weight management, and could be applied to many others. There have even been ludicrous rumours that the American government have tried and failed to use hypnotism as a ‘military weapon’, another humorous example of the hype surrounding hypnosis.

Despite all the research about hypnosis, there are still many things we do not know about hypnotism. It has been around for more than 200 years, baffling scientists and researchers, as well as amusing countless droves of onlookers as the hypnotist makes yet another volunteer strip of their clothes or pretend to be a duck.

In modern day Ireland, it is often difficult to personally realise the boundary between a few hearty drinks, and full-blown alcohol abuse. People who regularly drink heavily develop a reliance on alcohol for every-day functioning. Alcoholism is typically defined as physical dependence on alcohol, to the extent that stopping alcohol use will bring on withdrawal symptoms.

This so-called ‘scourge of humanity’ has existed ever since the first Stone Age people figured out how to ferment ale, and has remained with us for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians fermented grapes into wine, while the Incas spat chewed corn into a tub, left it for three days, and then got intoxicated from the resulting brew – and of course, alcoholism advanced hand-in-hand with these developments.

Throughout the ages, there have been many methods thought up to combat alcohol abuse, ranging from public whipping to flamboyant exorcisms of the demons living within the person, to more modern methods of group therapy and rehabilitation clinics.

Alcoholism was regarded, until most recently, as a craving that could only be beaten with a ‘mind-over-matter’ approach, emphasising willpower and learning control. It was believed to be an addiction that could happen to anyone, regardless of heredity features or family background.

But a growing body of scientific evidence proves that alcoholism has a genetic component. An individual’s risk of becoming dependant on alcohol is influenced by a hereditary gene, identified as GABRG3 on chromosome 15 of a person’s DNA.

A study run by investigators at the Washington University School of Medicine is the first to link this particular gene to alcohol dependence. Taking interviews and DNA samples from more than 10,000 individuals in alcohol treatment centres, as well as from their families, the survey succeeded to link small genetic defects in the gene GABRG3 to an increased likelihood of an individual to develop alcoholism.

This new research reinforces many other studies that have used laboratory animals, as well as human test subjects, to illustrate the role of genes in the growth of alcoholism. The most famous of these is a twin study in Sweden, recording alcohol use in twins who were adopted and reared apart. The incidence of alcoholism was only slightly higher in individuals who were exposed to alcoholism by their adoptive families; however alcohol dependency was drastically higher among the twins whose biological parents were alcoholics, regardless of whether their adoptive parents drank or not.

These tests indicate that genetic factors play a huge role in the development of alcoholism. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children of alcoholics are four times more likely than other children to become alcoholics.

Alcoholism is a growing problem, especially in such countries as Ireland, Finland and the UK, where extreme binge drinking is prevalent. Currently 38 per cent of Irish drinkers binge drink, compared to a European average of ten per cent. The Irish also have the highest levels of alcohol consumption per capita in all of Europe, and it is estimated that 5.5 per cent of us have an alcohol abuse problem.

Dependency on alcohol is prevalent among young adults, especially in students overindulging in their consumption of this drug. As with many other drugs, repeated abuse can lead to severe addiction. One result of prolonged use is an increased tolerance for alcohol, so that larger quantities need to be ingested in order for the individual to become intoxicated. Another result is the appearance of withdrawal symptoms, where the individual feels an overpowering urge to drink in order to alleviate their distress.

Although this groundbreaking research has cast a ray of light on the possible causes of alcoholism, there are many more questions left to solve, such as the possibility of a medical cure. A decade ago the notion of curing alcoholism would have sounded almost ridiculous, but in light of these recent breakthroughs, it seems more and more plausible in the years ahead.

Throughout the ages, many women have wanted to have the ‘Perfect Body’. Every era has had its own idea of what the perfect female proportions are. The people of ancient Rome favoured thin, almost child-like women and Victorians idolized the small waist.
On the other hand age-old cultures such as the ancient Greeks and Indians preferred bigger women; even in caveman days, a curvy figure was seen as a symbol of fertility. Another famous example was the ideals of painter Peter Paul Rubens. His paintings were filled with massive buxom ladies, believed to be the epitome of beauty in Renaissance Italy.
Unfortunately our society is at the other end of the scale. The end of the last century saw an increasing obsession with slender, wraith-like models, whose skeletal figures have dominated the catwalks and billboards for the past three decades. They continue to do so, although the tide is slowly turning with a growing emphasis on a healthier, curvier figure.
The past few years have seen a great backlash against size zero. One of the most memorable motions was the ban of all underweight girls from the catwalk of Milan Fashion Week in 2007, after the deaths of two models from undernourishment.

A radical reduction in caloric intake is counter-productive in effective, long-term weight-loss.

Despite many such developments, eating disorders are still very common. Statistics say that one in five women have, or have had, an eating disorder, and that four per cent of men are affected, although many cases continue to go unreported.
Disproportionate dieting can be a serious health hazard, and in some instances can even cause death. In spite of this, the media surrounding famous actresses and celebrities has taught us that slenderness is beautiful, and that becoming thin is all that matters – health is not a concern. Instead of wanting to maintain a healthy lifestyle, the emphasis is on the amount of weight lost.
Before starting a diet, you should stop and think about the toll that such crash-courses can have on your body and general wellbeing. When they embark on yet another ‘miracle’ diet, most people do not realise the tremendous physical and emotional damage that self-starvation inflicts, so they continue to diet, fast, and over-exercise.
Excessive cases such as anorexia have dire physical effects. When the body doesn’t have enough nutrition, it goes into starvation mode. It slows down to conserve energy and basically begins to consume itself. As the self-starvation continues, the medical complications pile up. The immune system is battered, constant fatigue manifests, and the hair begins to thin, as the body isn’t even getting enough nutrients to sustain proper hair growth. Sufferers also report being constantly cold, as the body has too little fat left to keep itself warm. Severe side effects range from stunted growth, to damage to vital organs, to sometimes death.
Most people never reach that extreme of food-depravation, instead indulging in yo-yo dieting or skipping meals in an effort to slim down. Many are sucked into fad diet plans that promise instant results with little physical effort required. But these plans also have a taxing effect on our bodies, often causing weakness, headaches and insomnia.
After repeated dieting attempts, the body starts to compensate by lowering its calorie usage, so in order to keep losing weight you must ingest fewer and fewer calories. Even skipping meals if you are lazy, or in a hurry, can be damaging. Constantly missing mealtimes means you are more likely to feel a lack of energy during the day and experience inability to concentrate for long periods of time.
On top of all this, eating disorders have very unfortunate psychological effects on a person’s wellbeing, described by some as an unbreakable downwards spiral. Effects begin with feelings of low self-worth and inadequacy, which get worse as the disorder progresses. No matter how much weight is lost, it simply isn’t enough. The more you diet, the more you become obsessed with food, checking the back of every packet to see how many calories you are eating. You develop the habit of comparing yourself to other people, a frame of mind in which self-esteem is based on how much you weigh and how thin you are.
Most common is the misguided belief that losing weight will bring happiness and popularity, and it is reported that many diet in an attempt to feel good about themselves. But no amount of dieting can repair the negative self-image at the centre of this problem. For others, self-starvation is a way of regaining control over some aspect of their lives. Controlling what they eat alleviates their feelings of powerlessness, but this boost is very short-lived. In the long run, eating disorders only lead to emotional pain, isolation and depression.
It is obvious that the adverse effects of these fads far outweigh the so-called ‘benefits’ of an overly skinny body, so we must start a trend towards valuing a healthy lifestyle and eliminate the idea that you have to be a walking coat-rack to be beautiful.

Drunk people: another one of those things. Like overpriced vodka and those little gherkins, you can’t live with them and can’t live without them.

Drunks, at times, can be a necessary and a valued facet of university life. Almost everyone enjoys a good session or two, and drunks are what keep the party going until us sober folk catch up with the rest.

There is also a natural entertainment factor when a band of drunks get together to partake in michievous and clumsy happenings, which almost exclusively involve traffic cones.

However, that being said, there are times when you feel an almost irresistible urge to go out and beat them all soundly with a Teflon frying pan.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against drunken students, I myself often fall in to that category. But the problem is that after quite a few cheerful nights out, toddling home in a happy alcoholic haze and watching the sunrise, there eventually comes a time when a girl simply has to sleep.

And what stops that from happening? College drunks (and that damn infrared floodlight thing outside my bedroom window but I’ll leave that rant for another day).

Students get polluted, make noise, and get up to what seem at the time like weird and wacky antics. Which is all fine, but when you can hear the echoes of a raging houseparty floating up to your room at 4 am, you’re not going to be best pleased.

And the phone calls. Oh God, the phone calls. 3 am, my phone rings.

“Hello?”
“Heeeeeeey.”
“Yes?”
Long silence. “Wer in the shhquare.”
“What?”
“Y’know, the shhquare.”
“What square?”
“Ish d’one wit the naked thingy.”
“What!?”

Oh joy.

And if you thought that general intoxicated students were something, those UCD students fortunate enough to live on campus are in a whole league of their own.

Those of us living in residences have our own mixture of crazy characters, ranging from those who arrange their many empty beer cans in their windows to form the American flag to girls dancing on tables and drinking undiluted vodka out of a sippy-cup.

This rabble also includes that happy chappy who left the half-digested remains of his dinner on our doormat. Thanks dude. The wonderful aroma assaulted our noses for about a week until a maintenance staff member took pity on us and cleaned it up.

Our own Belgrove residence is also home to a mysterious poledancing character, who on numerous occasions has been caught, well… dancing around a pole. All very nice, but I’d prefer not to be woken up for the sake of watching some chap execute a triple spin on the streetlamp.

And last but not least, the less said about a certain streaker the better- the mental scarring will endure for a while.

So the message to my neighbours is this- stop it! Shut the hell up, stop poledancing and let me sleep. I mean it, I will personally kill the next person who turns up on my doorstep in the middle of the night, roaring drunk and demanding hot chocolate. You know who you are and you have been warned.