Not a Healthy Start
Students nowadays face so many problems as I have talked about before, something that doesn’t get brought up enough is the health struggles of students. People just assume because students are mostly a population of people in their late teens and early to mid-twenties that they couldn’t possibly be less healthy than the general population. However, that is overlooking some pretty major information.
In colleges in the US, only around 41% of students considered themselves very healthy according to Statista. There are many causes for this. Each cause is just as applicable.
The first issue students face is substance abuse. Going from living at home to living out in a dormitory or an apartment can change things. Any substance problems may be exacerbated. Drinking becomes socially acceptable in the home. Students will be offered to try things. Some will try things on their own. Students come into a culture where staying up late is expected. Overall health can get much worse. They keep it up over long periods and it drains them. Fatigue sets in. They fall ill easier. This can compile even more if they don’t stop on their own. Even if they try to limit what they do and try to avoid danger, they may receive substances that are faked using much more dangerous substances. This has, unfortunately, lead to the deaths of many students.
Mental Health
This substance abuse issue is further compounded as well by mental health issues. College students are one of the highest concentrations of people with anxiety and depression. It can be hard for people with depression and anxiety to get up and do things on a regular basis. When combined with a lack of sleep and a hangover some may not do anything that day. It isn’t easy doing a full day of school, work, and homework. After that students are already drained but they want to do something fun. So the cycle continues.
Once they get into that cycle things go bad. Classes may fall behind, so they start feeling worse. Depression and anxiety get worse the farther behind they get. So they do more to distract themselves and it just gets even worse. Health conditions fall to the back of the mind and they don’t take care of themselves.
Improving your Health
All this partying and depression lead to very little time that students feel “free”. When you have everything you need to be done, done, you have time for things like cooking and exercise. Students eat garbage and don’t get much physical activity once they are in the hole.
Students are resilient however and they can recover. Health can be improved with better habits. Many colleges provide counseling or connections for healthcare and mental health services. Get plenty of sleep and leave the parties for the weekend. If you get your schoolwork done as soon as you can you wind up with free time. Take that time and schedule it to better yourself. So an exercise you enjoy a few times a week. Just doing something greatly increases mood. Do some research and find easy healthy meals you can eat regularly. Take steps even if cooking daily is out of reach for you. Just making yourself a sandwich is okay. Eating something proportioned correctly from home is much better than frozen meals or fast food.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pj Heckert
Student Author - Spring 2021
