So much of college culture, especially at a big SEC school, is tied up in unhealthy habits. Not just minorly detrimental habits like limited sleep and stress, but more serious ones such as alcohol and substance abuse. We live in an environment that not only does not encourage treating your body right, but actually praises and lifts up those who engage in extremely harmful habits.
Part of the United States’ college experience might be substance abuse. Almost 95% of college students surveyed in the U.S. have reported drinking alcohol while just above one in three reports having tried marijuana in a variety of forms. This number is especially shocking, considering marijuana is only legalized in 24 states and Washington D.C, and only 48% of college students are 21 years old or older, meaning not only are the habits unhealthy, but frequently illegal.
There is a reason that alcohol is not legal until 21. Even until the mid-20s, a person’s brain is still developing, especially their frontal lobe, which impacts decision making skills and impulse control. Drinking underage is likely to increase issues with addiction later in life as well.
All of the unhealthy behaviors in college are far too normalized. “Everyone does it” is not an excuse; it’s a slippery slope into addictive and life-ruining behavior. Alcohol consumption has significant potential to become binge drinking behavior, which is not just an unhealthy habit, but a life threatening obsession.
In addition to having the potential to become a dangerous set of behaviors, alcohol consumption negatively impacts almost every major organ in the body. It irritates the digestive tract as well as the liver and can lead to heart disease and stroke; not only can alcohol have adverse physical side effects, but it can increase the risk of mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.
All this in mind, college still encourages drinking to an extent that is completely unhealthy and pernicious. While peer pressure might not show up in the typical forms pushed by the media, a lot of college students have formed beliefs that the “college experience” is incomplete without drinking-filled memories.
The desire to fit in can be so strong that students develop behaviors not true to themselves. An astounding 75% of college students think that drinking in social situations can make it easier to socialize and open more doors for themselves in unfamiliar settings.
Social events on week nights lead students to find excuses for drinking every day of the week. While the average number of drinks consumed Fridays and Saturdays is certainly more than Sunday through Thursday, there is still significant alcohol consumption during the week. Early football games cause students to begin drinking early in the morning and continue throughout the day.
Whether you have freshly begun your freshman year or are months away from graduating, it’s not too late to turn unhealthy habits into more productive behavior. It’s never too soon to start treating your body right, and it is never okay to excuse alcoholism just because of college life. Serious addictive habits should never be taken lightly; they should be handled with the same care post-graduation that they are in college.
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