It is easy to fall into a pit of alcohol and drug abuse given the pressures, stresses and the culture of a college campus. Some people find it hard to deal with these kinds of things and resort to unhealthy addictions to fill the void.

Alcohol abuse is a common occurrence among college students. Go to any party or bar in the area, and you will see it for yourself. Alcohol consumption is totally fine (if you are of age), but you need to know when to cut yourself off. It is also important to realize when you grow a dependency for alcohol. If this ends up happening for you, we advise you to seek professional help.

Drug use can easily occur in a college setting as well. A student may resort to drugs to fill the same voids listed above. Also, drug abuse can grow from unhealthy habits, like taking amphetamines such as Adderall to stay up all night to study, or taking Xanax to deal with stress.

Seek out healthy mental escapes instead of filling your body with harmful substances. Addiction is real, and it will tear you apart form the inside and out.

If you are suffering from problems like this, there are many ways to help your addiction habits. There are on campus solutions such as counseling services in the Health Center. If you ever need to talk to someone, there will be people there to help you out.

There are also Alcoholic’s Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, where other people with the same problems can help you out. AA and NA meetings follow the 12-Step Program towards recovery, and it may help you if you muster up the courage to try.  These meetings are held in many places in the area on all days of the week if you need these meetings.

Be careful with how you live your life here at Eastern. It is easy to start drinking and drugging on the weekends frequently. Once you grow a dependency or start doing these things outside of the weekends or not in a social setting; you most likely have a problem. Use the sources around you to pull your self up and live your life healthy and addiction free.