College is a major transition for any young adult’s life. With the freedom that is granted to the student, there comes the responsibility to learn the boundaries of this freedom. Along with the environment changing, there are a huge amount of other lifestyle changes as well. Students are no longer being watched over by teachers or guardians and essentially, they must make decisions for themselves. This great deal of responsibility is not always handled appropriately. Habits of young adults change whether it be their diet choices or social habits. One habit that seems to significantly increase among college students is the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol is a common recreational and social drug. Some students will go to questionable heights like skipping meals to get intoxicated more quickly; however, their metabolic rate will decrease by skipping meals. Binge drinking specifically has been more prevalent recently, putting students at a higher risk for unwanted pregnancy, injuries from falling off balconies or being struck by a car, sexually transmitted diseases, and most strikingly, sexual assault. These negative habits are a major problem in society and should be addressed. 

The significant changes and increased workload can have a detrimental impact on someone. Factors like stress, substance abuse and undiagnosed mental illnesses overwhelm college students and potentially influence them to make decisions they would not otherwise make. For example, to cope with the stresses of their academic career and “relieve their stress” young adults may turn to alcohol. This often leads to binge drinking, to get drunk more quickly students consume less calories which is the opposite of what is recommended. Students are encouraged to eat more prior to consuming alcohol to lower their risk of harming themselves and reaching high levels of intoxication. Not eating so that they get drunk more quickly is also known as “drunkorexia.” This is a trend found on college campuses they believe not only will they get drunk more quickly but are cutting down on their calories to avoid weight gain. College students turn to substance abuse and alcohol in result of stress and social pressures.

Although social pressures and stress are prevalent among all ages, studies show that college students are particularly heavily influenced by them. Young adults at this age are more likely to cope with the stresses of college incorrectly. In 2014, a study was conducted by the National College Health association which showed that over 87 percent of college students are overwhelmed by their duties while 33 percent reported feeling depressed. Without the guidance of their guardians or peers who know them well (freshman year) students may not recognize that they need to seek help or be as open with their feelings.

 This may lead to other mechanisms of coping one being substance abuse. A study done by the Partnership for Drug- Free America revealed that only 7% of parent’s belief that teens may use drugs to cope with stress. Surprisingly, the same study revealed that approximately 3 out of 4 teens (73%) believe the stresses of school is what influences their drug use, while the second reason they turn to substances is to “feel cool”.  Substance abuse and binge drinking is no longer more commonly motivated by the idea of “having fun”. Instead students are turning to alcohol and substances to solve their problems and/or fit in amongst their peers. In relevance to turning to substance abuse to solve their problems, stress is more to blame than social reasons. When faced with academic pressures, college students often turn to drugs like Adderall to help them focus and get their work done efficiently before their due date. One concerning outcome of this mentality is many students do prescription drugs with the belief that it is safer than illegal drugs. However, without a prescription these drugs could be just as harmful. 

Another problem college students face and can no longer seek to their guardians for help is the “freshman fifteen”. Being used to someone cooking meals for you and watching over your diet habits can take a toll you when a happy meal from McDonalds seems like a more accessible meal. This often leads to binge drinking.  To get the alcohol into their systems more quickly and with the belief that they are avoiding weight gain, students consume less calories which is the opposite of what is encouraged. Whether it is to avoid the common weight gain or get drunk more quickly, students often skip meals before they go out. These young adults believe alcohol with diet-related behaviors such as food restriction, excessive exercising, or bingeing and purging will help them maintain their weight by skipping out on the extra calories with no meal and by getting intoxicated more quickly. Instead, students are encouraged to eat more prior to consuming alcohol to lower their risk of harming themselves and reaching high levels of intoxication. According to an Article written on the subject by Teen Vogue, a study was conducted by the University of Houston that showed 80% of college students have participated in at least one drunkorexic behavior in the last 3 months.  The pressure to avoid weight gain is so high that these behaviors are taken to another level not only do students skip meals skip meals they, take laxatives or diuretics, excessively workout before drinking and vomit after imbibing.

Students associated with a sorority or fraternity are more known to have more pressures and participate in such behaviors. A study was conducted to see the correlation between Greek affiliation, alcohol consumption, drunkorexia, disordered eating and the college life alcohol salience scale (how much one believes alcohol is central to their college experience). Students who drink heavily consider alcohol to be crucial part of their college experience. Even after being educated about the consequences of heavily drinking, the students still neglect to change their drinking patterns. Alcohol plays an essential role in the Greek community. Even though Greek life is also associated with positive things such as philanthropy and friendship, alcohol is the center of their social lives. This is evident, on phenomenon Instagram accounts such as Total Frat Move, Old Row, College Weekly etc. Followed by thousands and some even millions of students on college campuses across America. These accounts essentially convey the idea that how much alcohol you can consume, how crazy the things you do while you are under the influence are, coolers, an obsession with beers is what defines whether or not an individual is “cool”.  Once the individual is involved in Greek Life they are more likely to binge drink and do it more frequently. (Duca) Greek life is associated with being social and being social in the perspective of college students usually involved alcohol. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine however students who spent their first year not involved in the Greek system were more likely to drink more heavily when joining the Greek system. A reason for this behavior could be that alcohol plays a big role in the socialization of Greek life and is often an integral part of hazing and pledging.  In result, Fraternity and Sorority members may demonstrate misconceptions of how “normal” alcohol and drugs are, and going along with what their peers do.

College students’ binge drinking is not in response to stress but is for social purposes. In the article, “Why College Binge Drinkers are Happier” by Maia Szalavitz establishes the idea that those who binge drink more for often for social purposes are more satisfied with their college experience and happier overall. The article also states that Binge Drinking is associated with high status among college students. Not only did the high status “cool” kids report to be happier when binge drinking but people of all social statuses said that they were happier when drinking great amounts of alcohol than not. The article also provides a surprising statistic stating that those who were the most stressed and anxious were the least likely to participate in binge drinking. This suggests those who do binge drink are not drinking to self- medicate and escape their realities but to fit in. Szalavitz contradicts all the standard beliefs of college students, their mentalities and why they binge drink. She found interesting statistics and opinions of college students themselves and says what they are thinking.

Maia Szalavitz is not entirely wrong with her point that students drink for social purposes. These social purposes may be motivated by the stress of seeking social validation and a “cool” status. So, while Szalavitz’s point that students drink as a result of social pressures coincides with my main point, her rejection of the idea that students are not drinking to self-medicate contradicts common beliefs in society today. The main reason for binge drinking is in result of the stresses that college life brings whether it is the significant changes occurring or of their academic career. 

The real question is would college kids stop drinking if they realized it did not relieve their stress and “everyone” was not doing it? At least one in four students admit that their academics have suffered due to going out and drinking frequently. In addition, 1,825 students die a year for alcohol related reasons and 696,000 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking. (Feliz) So while college students are well aware of these facts and realize the “uncool” results of binge drinking and alcohol abuse, this behavior continues, increasing annually. As opposed to seeing the negative aspects of alcohol and realizing alcohol and drugs will not relieve them of their problems, because alcohol is classified as a depressant, binge-drinking has increased by 40 percent among college students in the past two decades. (Gonchar) 

Being in a new environment that one is not familiar with and all new people that do not know them well leaves room for mental illnesses to be left undiagnosed. Additionally, if there are sudden changes in behavior a students’ family and friends are not around to notice the changes in them and encourage them to seek help. So not only are the pressures and stresses of college academics potentially affecting the individual but they are in a new environment and don’t have the same support system they used to around them constantly to make sure they are ok. As much as 80 percent of college students have admitted to being overwhelmed by their responsibilities and anxious about school but over half of that 80% do not seek help. (National Alliance on Mental Illness) It is particularly concerning that the student may not be able to handle these stresses appropriately and feel comfortable expressing how they feel to a peer or medical professional at the school. There are a series of mental illnesses that can get worse or develop while at school such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders etc. Depression is very common especially on college campuses, and can make a person lose motivation to do daily activities such as eat, sleep and study. A college workload in addition to the feelings of hopelessness while depressed would worsen it and could cause them to drop out. An alternative would be that if they stay at school and remain undiagnosed symptoms may become worse. Anxiety is also very prevalent in the United States. By definition, anxiety causes feelings of worry and stress, and only one in every three people seek help. (Anxiety and Depression Association of America) On a college campus, a person who has anxieties symptoms can greatly worsen due to the amount of pressure they are under socially and academically. Anxiety Disorders in particular can easily be mistaken for stress, and stress amongst college students is very common. It is very easy for these symptoms to go undetected.  

College students are under a lot of stress not only from school but from their peers, and about their social lives. It is tough to balance having good greats, not gaining weight, exercising daily but on top of that their peers expect them to always be up for going out. Especially in the Greek community going out and binge drinking is what their social lives are centralized around. While attempting to balance all of this it is very difficult to not to be overwhelmed with stress. This can result in the development of bad habits such as not eating before going out, not seeking help if not mentally ok, or poor diet choices. Not having parents to look after what they do and a significantly increased workload can have an impact on an individual if not handled correctly. These negative habits are a major problem in society, steps need to be taken toward awareness to build a happier and healthier environment for college students. 
