By Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Bethesda, Md.--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Oct 9, 2001--Stress in college can be tremendous. Social, academic, and financial pressures all take their toll on college students from the day they arrive until graduation.
For freshmen, there are problems adjusting to separation from home and family, as well as leaving the comfort of high school for the overwhelming demands of higher education. For seniors, there are concerns about jobs and the future.
Every student copes with myriad problems, including peer pressure and social acceptance, dating and relationships, finances, and the stress of the academic program itself—workload, papers, and exams.
For many students, the stress builds, often producing physical, emotional, and social disruptions of varying degrees. For some, the stress becomes so great that it results in depression.
Too often, students under stress turn to drugs of abuse to relieve the pressure. Nicotine, alcohol, and illegal drugs are seen as a panacea for stress, anxiety, depression, and personal pain. The problem is that this approach merely treats the symptoms while, at the same time, increasing the risks of long-term health problems.
Students use cigarettes as stress reducers in spite of well-publicized risks. Nicotine acts as both a central nervous system stimulant and sedative. But it’s highly addictive. Once a person is hooked, it’s tough to quit. The health risks of long-term cigarette smoking are well known. And coeds who smoke, especially those who take birth control pills, are opening themselves up to an extra set of risks.
Marijuana is another stress - reduction choice that has drawbacks. Short-term effects of marijuana use include memory problems, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, distorted perceptions, loss of coordination, increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.
More importantly, studies of college students have shown that long-term marijuana use can impair the essential skills related to attention, memory, and learning — even after discontinuing the drug’s use for 24 hours.
Some students try to relieve stress by partying. A variety of drugs are now available at campus parties, bars, and clubs including ecstasy, methamphetamine, and “date rape drugs”—GHB, rohypnol, and ketamine. All become more potent and dangerous when mixed with alcohol.
Ecstasy is called the “hug drug.” Users feel that it breaks down emotional barriers, while having no side effects. Yet research has shown that regular ecstasy use can lead to damage of brain cells that regulate sleep, mood, and memory.
Methamphetamine”—“speed,” “chalk,” “ice” ”—is a powerful stimulant that is similar to amphetamine but more toxic to the central nervous system. Short-term effects include agitation, decreased appetite and increased energy levels. Long-term health consequences include memory loss, potential cardiac and neurological damage, and aggression.
Date rape drugs have no taste and are odorless and colorless. If slipped into a student’s drink, they create a sedating effect that removes barriers to sexual assault or unplanned, unsafe sex.
Alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs will not make your problems go away.
Before you turn to them to help temper your stress, check out your campus health center. Let school health professionals help you work things through in a constructive, healthy way.
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