I

WE DON’T WANT ANOTHER OPIOID EPIDEMIC

When we think about college students, the first thing that comes to mind is not the student loans, and it is not even the hard work we do to get good grades. Thanks to the portrayal of the media, college students are supposed to be this party animals that can’t get enough alcohol and drugs. This has made this generation greatly in danger of the problems that excessive substance abuse can bring. This generation is very susceptible to the peer pressure that comes from not feeling that role of “Party Animal.” This creates a feeling of anxiety and more drinking, which becomes the cycle that is, “you need to relieve yourself with alcohol to feel better about your mental health.”

I, as a college student myself, have definitely experienced the wandering thoughts about what people might think of me if I don’t drink or use drugs. Well, there are many ways of dealing with social pressure. First indulge it, if you submit to peer pressure it’s likely that you will end up liking it. This is not very advisable especially in places that you are visiting for the first time. This is the primary reason of why most college students drop out, or in serious cases even suicide. Why would you wanna mess up your life to make a few people feel good about themselves for a few minutes? Another way will be to go against it. I read a book about leadership and the first sentence said “learn how to say no”. Now, I’m not telling you to become the president of the US, but this little sentence will change your life. You’ll start to develop a voice for yourself and you’ll start figuring out the stuff you like as opposed to your friends. Now, this hasn’t killed anyone I know yet, but I guess when “figuring” out what you like try to be safe.

I believe that if colleges stopped portraying themselves as party houses, less people would feel peer pressure when it comes to drinks and drug use. But, let’s be honest, a lot of students enrolled in a college/university just to party.  So, this might be a long-shot, but I see potential in the idea that if colleges portrays itself as the learning experience it is. Most people wouldn’t go through the hard time of getting test anxiety, financial anxiety and most importantly they wouldn’t waste 4 years of their life. Also another long shot would be that TV stop portraying drinking or using drugs as the “cool” thing. Zendaya is acting in a new movie where she is an addict. The movie based on the trailer seems ok, but most importantly is raising awareness of what substance abuse can actually do to many of us. It is not portraying it as this magic thing that you might need to socialize with others, but as a problem that society has and needs to look more into. WE DON’T WANT ANOTHER OPIOID EPIDEMIC. So to finish and let you go back to your busy lives, remember there are different ways of dealing with peer pressure. Whether you go with it or against it, you should always surround yourself with people that appreciate you for who you are and not for who they want you to be.       

II

MORE RESEARCH??????

Sam finds out her friend, Kelly, who was ridden with social anxiety, had been binge drinking every night. As she claimed it, alcohol helped Kelly regulate her mood in social situations. After a few more than a couple drinks, she felt perfectly calm. Sam thought about it, and thought about it, and she could explain why Kelly consumed copious amounts of alcohol. But she couldn’t explain why she, herself, did the same thing. Sam didn’t have anxiety. It was just fun! And she only drank that much at parties. Well, looks like she had some google searching to do…

The explanation of anxiety has had mixed research on its correlation with binge drinking in college students. It definitely doesn’t cover the facts behind why college students use alcohol as a coping mechanism. It is therefore important to understand the peer influence and pressure of drinking in a college setting, outside of social anxiety as well. So just like for Sam, more research needs to be done!

III

WHAT ALCOHOL CAN DO TO YOU!

“POSITIVE” EFFECTS FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM ANXIETY

-FEELING EXTREMELY HAPPY. LEVELS OF ANXIETY DECREASES. HELPS SOCIALIZE WITH PEERS. 

NEGATIVE EFFECTS FROM ALCOHOL:

-ACUTE EXPERIENCES- Hangovers, black out, Injuries caused from being intoxicated, affect your cognitive part of the brain. Experiences some sort of Numbness. 

-CHRONIC EXPERIENCES – Liver disease, Cardiovascular disease(heart damage). Serious complications such as hallucination. Alcohol dependency might experiences a withdraw if they stop drinking alcohol.

IV

MORE CONSEQUENCES

“Annually, alcohol use among college students has been linked with nearly 2000 deaths and an estimated 97,000 alcohol- related sexual assaults and rapes”. Studies show that college students who suffer from anxiety drink to decrease their levels of anxiety. Studies show how college students would answer “I would feel at ease in social situations” when they drink alcohol. If colleges students tend to use alcohol as their key factor for their anxiety, than they would be an extreme high increase of alcohol consumption among college students. This places college students at risk of death or alcohol related problems. 

“Almost 50% of students have engaged in heavy drinking at least once within the past two weeks”. College students are not taking precaution of their drinking habits. Anxiety is linked to harmful alcohol usage either by binge drinking games or peer influenced. Alcohol dependency can affect a college student mentally. Using substances like alcohol to cope with anxiety because it releases your anxiety symptoms. This put college students at risk when they are intoxicated, not fully focused can lead to injuries for not being able to use their “cognitive and behavioural capabilities”.

“Researchers have focused on identifying protective factors that may aid prevention and intervention efforts in reducing the number of negative consequences related to college student drinking”. If college studies are more aware of the negative consequences that alcohol can impact. It would probably help students avoid alcohol as being their key factor for their anxiety.