Catherine Knobbe understands the importance of spreading awareness about suicide prevention first-hand.

Knobbe said her mother suffers from depression and has attempted suicide.

As an audience member at the counseling center’s 8th annual conference on suicide prevention, Knobbe, a sophomore elementary education major and Alpha Sigma Alpha member, said she could relate to the information discussed throughout the event.

“I liked the coping strategies,” Knobbe said.

The conference and dinner on Monday night opened with Sandy Cox, director of the counseling center, establishing the purpose of the event.

“Today, we’re talking about life,” said Cox.

The event drew more than 200 people to the Grand Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union – a number that Cox said was larger than expected.

She said she was pleased with the number of students in attendance this year. Greek students are especially supportive of the annual event, she said, and participation from the audience throughout the presentations was “amazing.”

This year’s theme was to focus on the students, said counselor Mike Tozer.

Counselors discussed problems that commonly affect college students.

Tozer covered the topics of pain and drugs and featured a Powerpoint presentation with photos of brains before and after assorted drug use.

Audience members appeared especially surprised when shown photos of a brain with decreased pre-frontal cortex and temporal lobe activity after regular marijuana use.

Tozer emphasized that drugs are a temporary method for coping with pain.

“(It) creates more pain than it relieves,” Tozer said.

Ateka Contractor, a graduate student in clinical psychology, said she learned the most from Tozer’s drug presentation.

“I was not too aware of the substance things,” Contractor said.

As an intern at the counseling center, Contractor said she felt the event created more awareness.

Other topics covered included depression, anxiety, eating disorders and sleep problems.

Counselor Cara Pschirrer discussed the differences between “having the blues” and actual depression, noting that depression is long-term and is accompanied by thoughts of suicide. She also agreed with audience members who said that depression is often well hidden.

“A lot of times, people become very good about faking how they feel inside,” Pschirrer said. “They may be the life of the party who have found coping with drinking or drug use.”

Two fliers were placed at each seat for students in attendance, which offered advice on ways to sleep better and 14 ways to positively cope with stress.

Cox explained the coping strategies in detail for the audience with advice such as trying not to harm others and keeping healthy romantic relationships.

“The best way to know your character is to take a look at your friends,” Cox said.

Ryan Senesac, a sophomore physical education major, said the event was very relevant for him as a risk manager for the fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha.

“Every risk manager should have been here, in my opinion,” Senesac said. “A lot of good information can come out of this.”

The interactive event had gift bags at every seat, filled with items related to stress prevention such as water bottles, incense, tea and granola bars.

The center provided raffles for an iPod nano, an iPod shuffle and a Homedic relaxation chair. Participation was encouraged from the audience by providing extra raffle tickets to students who contributed to the discussions.

The counseling center featured off-campus speakers in previous years, but Cox considers this year’s emphasis on students to be a success.

“We’ve been very fortunate; every year has been very successful,” Cox said. “We have a little more (tonight) than we normally have. We love the students.”

Maggie Foss, a freshman health studies major, practices a relaxation breathing exercise taught by the counseling center’s Cara Pschirrer during the annual conference on suicide at the Grand Ballroom in the University Union Monday evening. (Jay Grabiec/The

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