The Student Body: Concerns with our Health

Taking a look at the issues that are directly affecting students on our campus.

by Zackary MacRae

 

He was sitting on the couch, the football game was on and for Peter McGovern it was a perfectly normal Saturday night. A couple good friends arrived from out of town, filling up the living room and subsequently emptying a few bottles.

Eventually, the group would leave the house to “beat up the beat.” As described by Vinny from the MTV phenomenon Jersey Shore, beating up the beat is a particular style of dance that involves copious amounts of fist pumping, a touch of bromance and a lot of testosterone.

For now though, McGovern and the rest of the troop were content on the couch, watching the game and catching up a little bit. And that’s when it began.

“I noticed that my breathing was starting to become somewhat laboured and slightly irregular,” said McGovern.

Confused at the irregularity, McGovern continued to watch television until a friend pointed out that his face was beet red.

“From that point my breathing worsened,” said McGovern. “I started to shake and I had a feeling that if I didn’t do something about it, I would pass out.”

He was having a panic attack.

The student lifestyle, although oftentimes loads of fun and seemingly endless good times, does come with its share of baggage. A typical student at the University of Guelph is going through an important time in his or her life. In these four years we grow up, both emotionally and physically.

A first-year student might be having a hard time adjusting to life away from home and find himself in a the prison-like confines of a high tower in South Residence. Another more social being may not be eating properly, instead spending her money on booze and pot. At the same time, an upper year student, stressed out and broke, might be feeling a great deal of anxiety toward the next big step: life outside of the classroom.

Whatever the issue, it’s important for students to know that there is a network on campus to help address these problems, whether something is bumpy, lumpy or burning downstairs, or not quite right upstairs, they can help.

 

Anxiety

“You always need a certain degree of stress and anxiety in your life to live,” says Bruno Mancini of Student Life and Counseling Services. Having anxiety and being stressed is common in students who are expected to deal with things like competitiveness in class on an everyday basis.

It is a normal response to situations of trouble, uncertainty or feeling unprepared. However, if heightened anxiety or panic persists in relation to everyday events and interferes with the natural flow of life, you may have an anxiety disorder.

For McGovern, the incident was an isolated event that was brought on by physical factors including exhaustion and poor eating. But for some, common feelings of chronic and unsubstantiated worry can mean an anxiety disorder.

“Some students have better skills for coping with stress then others,” said Mancini. “Skill development in stress relief to deal with anxiety is extremely important.”

When a student comes into Counseling Services at the university with an anxiety disorder, counselors will try to do a number of things:

“First,” said Mancini, “we help the individual understand their anxiety and how they deal with it. Then we teach and educate around what they can do to effectively deal with their anxiety and stress better. Next comes problem solving, what is it that can be changed in their lives that would help them deal with their anxiety better.” And Finally Mancini offers support: per year Student Counseling Services individually helps upwards of 1600 students.

Anxiety can manifest itself in a variety of ways and have a variety of different presentations including loss of sleep, loss of appetite, panic attacks or in more serious cases, heart palpitations.

For McGovern, the most important preventative measure is knowledge: “Acknowledging what it is and being familiar with the signs so you can immediately identify what is happening to you to prevent further escalation of your anxiety is key. It will quickly disappear if you are able to calm yourself down and assess the situation clearly.”

 

Cigarettes and Marijuana

By now everyone knows that smoking cigarettes will cut your life short. Every year in Canada a small city, or over 45 000 people will die from tobacco use. But did you know that smoking marijuana can cause similar health concerns?

Dr. Maria Casale of Student Health Services is shocked at the amount of students who feel that marijuana is a natural and relatively harmless substance.

“There are consequences,” said Casale. “Now studies are showing that smoking marijuana does the same damage in the lungs that smoking cigarettes does.”

While in the last few years Casale has seen a general trend of more and more people kicking the cigarette habit, marijuana use is becoming more common amongst students.

“Pot seems to be ubiquitous,” a surprised Casale stated. “I’ve asked a lot of students on campus and they don’t consider pot to be a drug, they think it’s recreational and natural. A lot of people see it as safe, and with no consequence to their health.”

If marijuana use on campus is seeing an increase, students should get educated on its health risks and how they affect the body. The side effects are real and put your health at risk both physically and mentally; pot use may actually have lasting effects on the regulatory system in the brain.

“Our psychiatrist just made us aware of an acute psychosis from pot use,” said Casale. “The most dramatic things I’ve seen are panic attacks from daily pot use.”

Other side effects include: withdrawal and obsessive-ness, effect on the male and female hormonal system and anxiety, not to mention poor eating habits from the munchies.

 

Nutrition

One thing that most students who are paying hoards of money to attend university can agree on is that they don’t have hoards of money. In other words, we are broke.

For Registered Dietitian Erin Armitage eating properly doesn’t mean spending your life away.

“I urge students to think about food in another way.  Think about food in terms of nutrient density. Bad food choices are often cheap, but when you consider that you are paying for “empty calories” – i.e. food that is devoid of essential vitamins and minerals and foods that can increase your risk for chronic disease – those foods aren’t so appealing. Lots of really nutritious foods are also easy to prepare and are inexpensive (e.g. frozen vegetables, apple sauce, nuts, canned beans, canned tuna and salmon, whole grain breads).”

For the most part students seem educated about what food is essential to stay healthy, it’s just the task of acquiring and preparing this food that seems to be the problem.

“Some people struggle with making good choices because they don’t know how to cook or how to shop for groceries,” said Armitage who offers information to students through the Wellness Centre about how to successfully navigate the grocery store while keeping budget in mind.

If a student comes into the Wellness Centre with dietary concerns, Armitage will try to help by learning what the individual’s particular concerns and goals are. She helps facilitate the achievement of these goals by identifying the barriers and strategies to overcome the challenges a student might face.

“Ultimately though, I provide guidance and the student has to be ready and motivated to implement the changes.”

With poor eating habits students are at risk of nutrient deficiencies that can cause all sorts of long and short term concerns. Not eating properly also increases risks of heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. High blood pressure or high cholesterol related to poor eating habits is also becoming more common in students.

 

Depression

The word “depression” gets thrown around a lot in daily conversation. Have you ever heard a friend say something like “I’m so depressed about Quiznos not being open,” or “Yeah, I saw Avatar, it was so depressing when they blew up Hometree.” Well, this is not what most would consider to be depressing.

What the majority of people do not realize about depression is that it is a serious medical illness like diabetes or high blood pressure.

“It isn’t something that they have brought on themselves,” said Casale. “We know that physiologically there are changes in a depressed person and it’s not something they can change or snap out of overnight.”

For students, mood disorders are a real issue. Maybe a student has a hectic academic schedule, add a part-time job into the mix and all it takes is a single event, maybe a death in the family or a bad exam to act as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“As we get more into midterms and finals,” stated Mancini, “we see a surge of students that are feeling symptoms of depression coming in for counseling.”

One mood disorder that many students might be in the throws of currently is Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD for short. SAD is a disorder that most people who are normally in perfect mental health are affected by during the winter months.

“Winter is more likely a time that people are going to feel depressed,” posits Mancini. “Just look outside now, it’s depressing out there. It’s dark and it’s cold and you don’t have the social connection that you usually do.”

One of the reasons why SAD is prevalent in the winter is the lack of sun; rays from the sun that beat down on us and give our bodies a healthy dose of vitamin D, something not so readily available throughout the winter.

In any case, exercise and time will help combat depression in all months of the year.

“It takes time to reverse those biochemical changes in the brain” said Casale, “and it’s done by different modalities. It is often a combination of counseling, exercise and it helps to take medication. Most importantly though, there has to be motivation on the part of the person with depression to get back into sync.

 

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)

When asking different health specialists around campus about the most prevalent health issues that they see in their offices on a day to day basis, one issue kept coming up. It is especially an issue in student populations, who are usually labeled as a horny and sexually promiscuous lot.

“We do a lot of STI screenings,” said Casale without hesitation. “Anytime a student is concerned, they should come in and get tested.”

And don’t worry guys, for an STI check all you have to do is pee into a cup. No matter what your friends might tell you, you won’t get a cotton swab up your urethra. For women also, usually a little pee in a cup for testing purposes will suffice but sometimes an internal examine will be necessary. As STIs are transmitted through sexual behavior, Dr. Casale urges you to take the safest approach and be tested after interacting with each new partner. And above all it’s best to always follow the “no glove no love” policy – wear a condom!

Student health issues at the University of Guelph centre around the stresses that accompany serious post secondary education. With both academics and extra curricular activities it’s important to take everything in moderation, and remember to keep fit, and have fun.