Making Freshman Year Less Stressful Essay

Financial and emotional stress, conflicts in the workplace or in the family, and personality traits are all risk factors that could potentially lead an individual to become an alcoholic. Financial stress, specifically unemployment, can cause negative emotions and potentially negative behavior such as alcohol abuse. In an article by Ioana Popovici and Michael French it states, “From a psychological perspective, the financial challenges associated with unemployment could increase tension, anxiety, and family discord, thus leading to increased alcohol use”(2013). Stress within the family, such as divorce, is also a main factor in the development of alcoholism. According to Begoña José and Hans Van Oers in their article titled “Stressors and Alcohol Consumption”, both getting and being divorced is linked to heavy drinking(2000). If alcoholic behavior occurs in a family it is common for the relationships to be weakened and more stress to be created, which can further push the alcoholic into isolation and worsen their drinking behavior. Not only can outside factors have an influence on the occurrence of alcoholism, but certain personality traits can contribute to an individual’s likelihood of becoming an alcoholic. Personality characteristics can determine how a person will react to stressors. One person may abstain from alcohol while another will resort to heavy drinking while

For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can

According to Lupien, McEwan, Gunnar, and Heim (2009), going off to college involves significant adjustments to their daily routines; sleeping and eating habits, time-management skills, and stress levels will be altered in one way or another. First-year students have to adjust to the new school environment, different social settings, and new schedules, all without the help and guidance from their parents, who have been there for them for eighteen years. Over 30% of college freshman report that they feel overwhelmed (Klainberg, Ewing, & Ryan, 2010), where some students even opt to work as they juggle their class and work schedules. Some students work at a job or study harder than others, but they are all trying to get degrees so maybe one day they will have meaningful and significant lives. It is a constant struggle for everyone who is trying desperately to make him or herself into a success. And every college student wants to be involved in society in a positive manner, allowing contribution of their ideals and values to others.

Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences

Considering the cost of a college education, it's important that students focus on their studies and not on happy hour. Setting

The transition from high school to college is a dynamic time in one’s life that parallels the change from childhood to adulthood. Both of these changes are dramatic and, as a result, feelings are difficult to put down into words. A messy combination of emotions fills the heart, surfacing in strange ways. Confident high school seniors go right back to the bottom of the chain when entering college as freshmen. These students start all over, just like entering grade school or high school for the first time. The move up from high school to college signals the switch from dependence to self-sufficiency. From a personal point of view, going through the experience of graduating high school and transferring to a residential college campus at STLCOP, made me realize I was no longer a kid and capable of making my own decisions.

Alcohol has long been a problem for society, and college students are no exception to this problem, especially when it comes to binge drinking. Binge drinking is classified at 5 or more drinks for men or 4 or more drinks for women within 2 hours. According to a study by Ikes, “more than 40% of college students have engaged in heavy episodic drinking (HED)” or binge drinking (find pg number) and “19% engage in frequent binge drinking” (Iconis 243). There are very large implications for college students drinking this much alcohol. First of all, there is a huge health risk when drinking at such an alarming rate and a young age. According to a study done by the Office of the Surgeon General, when exposed to large amounts of alcohol, college students run the risk of developing long term biological change. Sustained binge drinking can affect both the brain’s and body’s biology. Young college students can develop adverse mental symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. Sustained binge drinking can also “affect memory, alters sensitivity to motor impairment, and damages frontal­anterior cortical regions” (25). There is also evidence that sustained binge drinking has detrimental effects on the liver, endocrine system and bones (Office of the Surgeon General 26). Not only is this a health issue, it has become a social issue as well. Students who regularly engage in binge drinking have increases in risky behavior as a result of their impaired judgement, and this risky behavior has many

Since the early 1990s, substance-free housing has become an increasingly popular option for campuses across the nation. Substance-free housing has been implemented in universities and colleges in hopes of reducing rates of binge drinking among college students. Binge drinking can be defined as, “men drinking five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting and for women four or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting.” (Feldman 271). Even though many know college binge drinking is a problem in our country, many are shocked when they hear that, “more than 75% of college students have consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the last 30 days. More than 40% say they’ve had 5 or more drinks with in the past 2 weeks, and some 16% drink 16 or more drinks per week. Nearly half of all male college students who drink are binge drinkers, and forty-one percent of female college students are binge drinkers” (Feldman 270). Statistics prove that college binge drinking is a problem to not only the students drinking but the ones that are staying sober, since “two-thirds of light drinkers reported having their sleep or studies disturbed by drunken students. Around a third had been insulted or humiliated, and 25% of women said a drunken classmate had made unwanted sexual advances” (Wechsler et al. 199). College binge drinking has many consequences associated with it such as poor academic performance, injury, assault, sexual abuse, property damage and drunk driving (Willenbring 238). The problem of

The predicted outcome was that these mood disorders would lead to the coping strategies of alcohol consumption in college.

College students, drinking heavily and using drugs is a persistent problem despite widespread initiatives that promote and limit drinking during and after college. Drinking in college is perceived to enhance socialization, bonding, and make one less inhibited. College, for some is characterized by a high level of freedom and low level of responsibility, and has been seen as time-out from the “real world”. Because many college students think this way, heavy drinking and narcotic use is permissible. Most students who participate in such behavior, seem to expect their future lifestyle to be burdensome and tedious, planning for the future with careers and children; great memories for the good times associated with drug use and drinking is expected.

That when you go off to college it's time to not only get a degree, but also a time to drink and socialize at parties. In the end, alcohol is glamorized and often enough abused. Ultimately alcohol becomes so much of a social norm that students do not realize how and when alcohol is abusive. Therefore the problem is how to inform students in a socially acceptable manner of how and when alcohol becomes abusive to their own well being. This reports seeks to explore all aspects of alcohol abuse related to college students through definitions and statistical problems of alcohol abuse in hopes of ultimately providing solutions to increasing the wellness at Georgia Southern University.

There is some blmjcam research that studies about alcohol addiction. Alcohol consumption will have played an important role in the injury, the approximately 7,900 people died due to alcohol drinking in the United state every year and 35% of deaths are among young people aged 12-20 years (Rhoades,Jernigan,&Ph.D,2013,p.116). There are several factors which influence to alcohol addiction as well as the social structure and the market factor. Alcohol is one of the products that are advertised all over the world, resulting in the under youth obtains the media increases (Fielder,Dondvan,&Ouschan,2009,p.1157). Stress is increasingly important in recent years. From the clinical studies found that stress is a major factor of drinking alcohol that increasing

Thus, the college years have developed into a time for finding oneself. Alcohol and drug abuse provide a means to conceal feelings of insecurity that arise from the students uncertainty of themselves. Substance abuse acts as a stress reducer through the beginning stages of college.

Freshman year, the year of many first; the first time living away from home, the first time being away from friends, the first time a student has control of their own learning. Freshman year requires a lot of discipline, but a lot of students do not possess this trait. The factors that contribute to the success of first year college students are social support, comfort within the college environment, self control,responsibiliy and positive self concept.

First off, adjusting to academic factors in the freshmen year can create stress for students in a variety of ways. First of all, first-year students experience stress while trying to keep up with the new academic workloads in college, which are completely different and more challenging than the workloads in high school. To illustrate this, in Alan Schwartz’s article in the