October 27th, 2015 by pio@shoreline.edu
A Message from Counseling Services
Halloween is fast approaching. This day is popular among children and adults. Some children in United States will participate in fun events like pumpkin carving and trick-or-treat. They will wear Halloween costumes and go out trick or treating. As adults, some of you will also dress up for Halloween – maybe as a Zombie, Wonder Woman, Mr. Incredible, Michael Jackson, RuPaul, Beyoncé – but most likely you will not be going door- to-door asking for treats; instead, you will probably be headed to a party, a friend’s home or a bar where there will be lots of music, laughter, and drinking. Did you know that in the United States, Halloween has become a major drinking holiday for adults, and social drinking can result in excessive drinking that leads to negative consequences? Well that’s a fact, so counseling staff, who care about your safety and well-being, identified 10 tips for you to consider before heading out to celebrate Halloween.
- For the safety of yourself and others, don’t wear a costume that includes anything that could be confused with a real weapon. Don’t wear anything that could be taken as impersonating a police officer. Wear a costume that feels comfortable to you.
- If drinking, go easy on the drinks. It’s important to be alert and respectful of others. If you plan to drink, make sure that you have a designated driver or money for a cab. Excessive drinking can lead to negative consequences – sickness, black out, arrests, regret.
- If you and your buddies go to a party, set the rules before you get there, such as, (1) We won’t leave each other at the party. (2) We will watch out for each other and make sure we stay safe and don’t hurt others. (3) We will go easy on the drinking. (4) We won’t leave the party (go to a room, outside, bathroom, etc.) without letting a friend know what’s going on. (5) We will follow these rules. We just want to have fun and get home safe.
- While at the party, if you see someone drunk, do not attempt to have sexual contact or sex with the person. A person who is drunk cannot consent to sexual contact or intercourse. It is a crime to have sex with a person who is drunk.
- If you are unable to go to the party and/or leave the party with friends, let a friend know when you are coming to the party and/or leaving the party, and send a text when you get to your destination.
- If you have a cell phone, make sure it’s charged and carry your cell phone on you at all times. Put an emergency number in your cell phone such as a friend, roommate or family member.
- If you are having a party at your apartment or house, know who is at your house and/or staying at your place. If you are going to someone else’s house, respect their rules, property, and requests.
- If of legal drinking age, don’t leave your drink unattended, and never accept a drink from someone you don’t know. Don’t drink out of the punch bowl or an open container at the party, the punch or liquid could be spiked with drugs. Don’t spike other people’s drinks. Spiking drinks for the purpose of sexual contact is a first degree felony.
- If you find yourself at a party where you don’t know a lot of people or the crowd seems sketchy, it’s okay to grab your friends and leave. Call it a night or go to a party with more of your friends and people you know.
- If visiting a school you are unfamiliar with, know your surroundings. Know where you are located on the campus and where the campus security office can be found.
Enjoy celebrating Halloween. Just make sure you do so safely; and with respect for others.
For more information about Counseling Services and resources go to: www.shoreline.edu/counseling-services or stop by the FOSS Building, Room 5229
References
Help blog: http://ihelploan.com/blog/2014/10/07/halloween-in-college-safety/
State University.com: http://www.stateuniversity.com/blog/permalink/12-Halloween-Safety-Tips-for-Students.html
Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/sns-travel-drinking-holidays-pictures-photogallery.html
Students Health and Safety Matter – Halloween Tips (2015). Written by Dr. Yvonne L. Terrell-Powell, Associate Dean of Equity, Engagement and Counseling
Posted in Announcements Tagged with: counseling and advising, halloween, safety tips
October 26th, 2015 by pio@shoreline.edu
Understanding Anxiety
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
12:30 pm in the PUB, room 9201
Anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, a little anxiety can motivate you and help you stay focused under pressure, such as when taking an exam or driving your car on a dark and stormy night. However, when anxiety takes over and interferes with daily activities, there may be cause for concern. The good news – recovery is possible and there are many things you can do to get your anxiety in check and regain control of your life.
Join Counseling Services at our interactive workshop and learn more about how to recognize and manage the signs and symptoms of anxiety for yourself or someone you care about.
Workshop is open to all and no RSVP needed. Hope you can make it!
Questions about the workshop? Contact Sheryl Copeland at scopeland@shoreline.edu or 206.533.6712.
Want to know more about anxiety? Visit HelpGuide.org: http://www.helpguide.org/home-pages/anxiety.htm
Need someone to talk to? Stop by Counseling Services in FOSS 5229 or call us at 206.546.4559 to schedule an appointment with a professional counselor.
Need 24/7 Crisis Support?
King County Crisis Line | 1-866-427-4747 | TTY: 206-461-3219
Snohomish County Crisis Line | 1-800-584-3578 | Online Chat: carecrisischat.org
Posted in Announcements, Free, Services for Students, Workshops Tagged with: counseling
October 26th, 2015 by pio@shoreline.edu
In honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Office of Special Services (OSS) is working to raise awareness of disabilities by offering daily facts and tips about people with disabilities and living with disability. Please take a minute to read and broaden your understanding.
What is Tourette syndrome?
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The disorder is named for Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the pioneering French neurologist who in 1885 first described the condition in an 86-year-old French noblewoman.
The early symptoms of TS are typically noticed first in childhood, with the average onset between the ages of 3 and 9 years. TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups; males are affected about three to four times more often than females. It is estimated that 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS, and as many as one in 100 exhibit milder and less complex symptoms, such as chronic motor or vocal tics. Although TS can be a chronic condition with symptoms lasting a lifetime, most people with the condition experience their worst tic symptoms in their early teens, with improvement occurring in the late teens and continuing into adulthood.
What are the symptoms?
Tics are classified as either simple or complex. Simple motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements that involve a limited number of muscle groups. Some of the more common simple tics include eye blinking and other eye movements, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Simple vocalizations might include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds. Complex tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving several muscle groups. Complex motor tics might include facial grimacing combined with a head twist and a shoulder shrug. Other complex motor tics may actually appear purposeful, including sniffing or touching objects, hopping, jumping, bending, or twisting. Simple vocal tics may include throat-clearing, sniffing/snorting, grunting, or barking. More complex vocal tics include words or phrases. Perhaps the most dramatic and disabling tics include motor movements that result in self-harm such as punching oneself in the face or vocal tics including coprolalia (uttering socially inappropriate words such as swearing) or echolalia (repeating the words or phrases of others). However, coprolalia is only present in a small number (10 to 15 percent) of individuals with TS. Some tics are preceded by an urge or sensation in the affected muscle group, commonly called a premonitory urge. Some with TS will describe a need to complete a tic in a certain way or a certain number of times in order to relieve the urge or decrease the sensation.
Tics are often worse with excitement or anxiety and better during calm, focused activities. Certain physical experiences can trigger or worsen tics, for example tight collars may trigger neck tics, or hearing another person sniff or throat-clear may trigger similar sounds. Tics do not go away during sleep but are often significantly diminished.
What is the course of TS?
Tics come and go over time, varying in type, frequency, location, and severity. The first symptoms usually occur in the head and neck area and may progress to include muscles of the trunk and extremities. Motor tics generally precede the development of vocal tics and simple tics often precede complex tics. Most patients experience peak tic severity before the mid-teen years with improvement for the majority of patients in the late teen years and early adulthood. Approximately 10-15 percent of those affected have a progressive or disabling course that lasts into adulthood.
Can people with TS control their tics?
Although the symptoms of TS are involuntary, some people can sometimes suppress, camouflage, or otherwise manage their tics in an effort to minimize their impact on functioning. However, people with TS often report a substantial buildup in tension when suppressing their tics to the point where they feel that the tic must be expressed (against their will). Tics in response to an environmental trigger can appear to be voluntary or purposeful but are not.
What causes TS?
Although the cause of TS is unknown, current research points to abnormalities in certain brain regions (including the basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex), the circuits that interconnect these regions, and the neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) responsible for communication among nerve cells. Given the often complex presentation of TS, the cause of the disorder is likely to be equally complex.
What disorders are associated with TS?
Many individuals with TS experience additional neurobehavioral problems that often cause more impairment than the tics themselves. These include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—ADHD); problems with reading, writing, and arithmetic; and obsessive-compulsive symptoms such as intrusive thoughts/worries and repetitive behaviors. For example, worries about dirt and germs may be associated with repetitive hand-washing, and concerns about bad things happening may be associated with ritualistic behaviors such as counting, repeating, or ordering and arranging. People with TS have also reported problems with depression or anxiety disorders, as well as other difficulties with living, that may or may not be directly related to TS. In addition, although most individuals with TS experience a significant decline in motor and vocal tics in late adolescence and early adulthood, the associated neurobehavioral conditions may persist. Given the range of potential complications, people with TS are best served by receiving medical care that provides a comprehensive treatment plan.
How is TS diagnosed?
TS is a diagnosis that doctors make after verifying that the patient has had both motor and vocal tics for at least 1 year. The existence of other neurological or psychiatric conditions can also help doctors arrive at a diagnosis. Common tics are not often misdiagnosed by knowledgeable clinicians. However, atypical symptoms or atypical presentations (for example, onset of symptoms in adulthood) may require specific specialty expertise for diagnosis. There are no blood, laboratory, or imaging tests needed for diagnosis. In rare cases, neuroimaging studies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerized tomography (CT), electroencephalogram (EEG) studies, or certain blood tests may be used to rule out other conditions that might be confused with TS when the history or clinical examination is atypical.
It is not uncommon for patients to obtain a formal diagnosis of TS only after symptoms have been present for some time. The reasons for this are many. For families and physicians unfamiliar with TS, mild and even moderate tic symptoms may be considered inconsequential, part of a developmental phase, or the result of another condition. For example, parents may think that eye blinking is related to vision problems or that sniffing is related to seasonal allergies. Many patients are self-diagnosed after they, their parents, other relatives, or friends read or hear about TS from others.
How is TS treated?
Because tic symptoms often do not cause impairment, the majority of people with TS require no medication for tic suppression. However, effective medications are available for those whose symptoms interfere with functioning. Neuroleptics (drugs that may be used to treat psychotic and non-psychotic disorders) are the most consistently useful medications for tic suppression; a number are available but some are more effective than others (for example, haloperidol and pimozide).
Unfortunately, there is no one medication that is helpful to all people with TS, nor does any medication completely eliminate symptoms. In addition, all medications have side effects. Many neuroleptic side effects can be managed by initiating treatment slowly and reducing the dose when side effects occur.
Behavioral treatments such as awareness training and competing response training can also be used to reduce tics. A recent control trial called Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Tics showed that training to voluntarily move in response to a premonitory urge can reduce tic symptoms. Other behavioral therapies, such as biofeedback or supportive therapy, have not been shown to reduce tic symptoms. However, supportive therapy can help a person with TS better cope with the disorder and deal with the secondary social and emotional problems that sometimes occur.
Is TS inherited?
Evidence from twin and family studies suggests that TS is an inherited disorder. Although early family studies suggested an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance (an autosomal dominant disorder is one in which only one copy of the defective gene, inherited from one parent, is necessary to produce the disorder), more recent studies suggest that the pattern of inheritance is much more complex. Although there may be a few genes with substantial effects, it is also possible that many genes with smaller effects and environmental factors may play a role in the development of TS.
Genetic studies also suggest that some forms of ADHD and OCD are genetically related to TS, but there is less evidence for a genetic relationship between TS and other neurobehavioral problems that commonly co-occur with TS. It is important for families to understand that genetic predisposition may not necessarily result in full-blown TS; instead, it may express itself as a milder tic disorder or as obsessive-compulsive behaviors. It is also possible that the gene-carrying offspring will not develop any TS symptoms.
The gender of the person also plays an important role in TS gene expression. At-risk males are more likely to have tics and at-risk females are more likely to have obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Genetic counseling of individuals with TS should include a full review of all potentially hereditary conditions in the family.
What is the prognosis?
Although there is no cure for TS, the condition in many individuals improves in the late teens and early 20s. As a result, some may actually become symptom-free or no longer need medication for tic suppression. Although the disorder is generally lifelong and chronic, it is not a degenerative condition. Individuals with TS have a normal life expectancy. TS does not impair intelligence. Although tic symptoms tend to decrease with age, it is possible that neurobehavioral disorders such as ADHD, OCD, depression, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, and mood swings can persist and cause impairment in adult life.
What is the best educational setting for children with TS?
Although students with TS often function well in the regular classroom, ADHD, learning disabilities, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and frequent tics can greatly interfere with academic performance or social adjustment. After a comprehensive assessment, students should be placed in an educational setting that meets their individual needs. Students may require tutoring, smaller or special classes, and in some cases special schools.
All students with TS need a tolerant and compassionate setting that both encourages them to work to their full potential and is flexible enough to accommodate their special needs. This setting may include a private study area, exams outside the regular classroom, or even oral exams when the child’s symptoms interfere with his or her ability to write. Untimed testing reduces stress for students with TS.
The above information and more can be found by clicking here.
Posted in Announcements Tagged with: disability awareness month, OSS
October 26th, 2015 by pio@shoreline.edu
Shoreline Community College students have opportunities to weigh in on the next phase for the 4000 Building, also known as the Ray W. Howard Library Media and Technology Center.
The building has undergone some adjustments over the past year or two. In the spring of 2014, the long unused TV studio on the lower floor became a black-box theater space used by a variety of digital film, theater and other programs. In the fall of 2014, tutoring services relocated from the 5000 Building (FOSS) to offices on the library main floor. This summer, the Math Learning Center and The Writing and Learning Studio also moved into library main-floor spaces.
To voice preferences and opinions for the next phase, all students can:
– Attend a session from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the PUB Main Dining Room, with Seong Shin, Principal for Interior Design Services, and other personnel at McGranahan Architects of Tacoma. McGranahan is the firm the college has been working with on a number of projects across the campus, including the library/400 Building.
– Fill out the online survey here
Similar sessions and a survey are available for college employees in general and specifically those working in the library/4000 Building.
Student participation will help the college in future planning efforts.
Posted in Announcements
October 26th, 2015 by pio@shoreline.edu
In honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Office of Special Services (OSS) is working to raise awareness of disabilities by offering a movie screening of FIXED.
FIXED Mon., Oct. 26 from 1-3 p.m. (movie is 60 minutes, with a discussion afterwards for those who can stay) in room 1504.
What is FIXED about??
A haunting, subtle, urgent documentary, FIXED questions commonly held beliefs about disability and normalcy by exploring technologies that promise to change our bodies and mind forever. Told primarily through the perspectives of five people with disabilities: a scientist, journalist, disability justice educator, bionics engineer and exoskeleton test pilot, FIXED takes a close look at the implications of emerging human enhancement technologies for the future of humanity.
Check out the trailer here.
Please contact the Office of Special Services if you have questions or would like to schedule a discussion of the topic or a showing of the movie in your class.
Kathy Cook, Associate Dean
Office of Special Services
Ext. 4544
Posted in Announcements, Events, Free Tagged with: disability awareness month, OSS
