The waning days of summer herald the time when many young people wave farewell to their parents' home and head to college, where they'll face a barrage of challenges and changes, from overwhelming intro classes to inscrutable roommates.
College students may also face challenges to their health, both physical and mental, that may have long-term effects reaching well past their undergraduate years.
5.Stress:
While many different parts of college life can cause stress, the outcome is the same: Stress is the top factor negatively influencing academic performance, according to a 2012 survey of 90,000 college students. The survey looked at whether students earned a lower grade on an exam, project or in a class; or dropped a class due to stress.
"Stress is the greatest impediment to academic success for most students,". "My advice to students is to monitor their stress levels, and get assistance from your campus counseling and health centers."
4.Binge drinking:
Up to 40 percent of all college students report engaging in binge drinking (typically defined as consuming four drinks on one occasion for women, and five drinks on one occasion for men). The behavior does a number on students' brains, with research showing that young adults who drink heavily have abnormalities in the gray and white matter of their brains.
Binge drinking has other serious effects. A 2009 study found that 1,800 college students die from alcohol related causes yearly; approximately 600,000 are injured under the influence of alcohol, and nearly 700,000 are assaulted by other students who have been drinking.
3.Depression:
Research shows that college students face heightened levels of depression and anxiety, with freshman often suffering the most from these issues as they adjust to a new environment. The conditions can also lead to increased substance abuse, poor academic achievement and suicide.
Depression often goes unreported by college students, but some studies suggest that students are becoming more comfortable in speaking out about this problem – the rate of reporting depression is increasing, rising by 56 percent between 2010 and 2015.
2.Casual sex:
Although many college students engage in casual sex, a recent study of more than 1,800 18-to-25-year-olds who had completed at least one year of college found that the students were not any more promiscuous during their first year of college, than they were in the years prior to college.
Nonetheless, studies show that college students believe their peers are much more sexually active than is actually the case.
Commonplace or not, casual sex comes with health risks, including sexually transmitted diseases, emotional and mental distress, sexual violence and unintended pregnancy.
1.Sleep deprivation:
Too many college students know the pain of sleep deprivation. One study of 120 university students found that 60 percent had pulled at least one all-nighter during their college careers. Unfortunately, such sleepless nights were correlated with a lower GPA.
A larger study, of 1,125 students, found that 60 percent had poor sleep habits, including delaying both bed and rise times on weekends, as well as taking prescription, over the counter and recreational drugs to alter sleep or wakefulness. These students reported more problems with their physical and psychological health than those with better sleep habits.
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