Students need more than ‘no’
by Diana De Leon, reporter

    Anxieties and stress plague many college students who believe their world is falling apart, but Solve is a proven method of help, a NE Campus counselor told seminar participants recently.

    “Solve is completely doable,” Sonja Butler said.

    Butler was the main speaker for Is Just Saying “No” All It’s Cracked Up To Be, a seminar on addiction and recovery from drugs.

    Dealing with social situations, family conflicts, athletic performance and tests are anxieties that make college students feel overwhelmed, Butler said.

    “People use drugs because they are anxious,” she said in her lecture.

    Butler did not preach “don’t do drugs,” but focused on ways students can handle anxieties and stress.

    Solve, Butler said, is a method used by Charter hospitals to help drug addicts learn to handle their problems in a realistic way. It forces people to be specific rather than use the axiom “my world is falling apart.”

    Audience members received a worksheet to use.

    Facts and statistics on crack were presented in a video, which included stories told by recovering addicts on their downward spiral into drugs, and the effect on their lives.

    Audience members said some of the images on screen, such as crack-addicted babies, were difficult to view, and stories told by the addicts were extremely disturbing,

    Linda Specks, academic counselor and the secondary speaker, noted that many students use drugs to help them cope with their stress.

    “It’s a defense mechanism,” she said.

    Specks said compensation and projection are two defense mechanisms. With compensation, the student is insecure but thinks that drug use makes him more confidant. With projection, the student blames others for his problems. Audience members received a list of defense mechanisms.

    “We come up with all sorts of reasons, the most deadly is denial,” Butler said.

    An example of denial is the student who hocks his stereo to buy marijuana, but claims he does not have a problem.

    Both women emphasized that there are alternatives to any reason one may have to use drugs.

    “Change your playground, playmates and toys,” Butler said.

    Both Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous stress that steps can be taken to help the addict recover, resume normal life and handle life without drugs.

    “It takes repetitiveness. There are concrete steps you can take,” Butler said. “Everybody can be helped, but you have to want help.”

    A resource list of help was given to all audience members. It included the NE Campus counseling center, 817-515-6661; Tarrant County Outreach, 817-795-3030; Crisis Intervention, 817-927-5544; Resource Connection, 817-531-7600, and the Tarrant Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, 817-285-7450.

    The speakers stressed that students could learn to handle their complicated lives and make good decisions without drugs.

    “It takes time and change,” Butler said.