With life getting busier and more overloaded with information, it’s getting more challenging to effectively manage one’s health habits. Self-awareness and self-education regarding personal health is no longer optional, it’s a necessity due to the myriad of distractions we have all around us.
With that in mind, the Student Health and Psychological services hosted “Stress Reduction Week” in the quad last week to help students to relieve stress.
This event was run as a part of mental health awareness week with the objective to bring more awareness to students about different ways to deal with stress in their lives.
Dietician Lorrie Gray from nutritional counseling at the Student Health Center feels that this issue is preventing people from eating in a healthy manner.
“One of our biggest concerns with our population in general is that people try to multi-task. They’re focus isn’t really on eating, they drive and eat, complete a work assignment while eating and watch TV while eating,” Gray said. “How this ultimately affects them is they don’t have awareness of how much they’re eating, how fast they’re eating and sadly they’re not enjoying their food.”
In order to counter this common issue, Gray’s recommendation is for people to stop and focus only on eating their food. This will enable people to get fuller sooner, which results in eating less food and getting more enjoyment from food.
Nutritional counselling is a free service for students, with the Student Health Center providing individualized appointments based on student eating habits.
If not given the proper guidance, a student can feel overwhelmed and unequipped to cope with stress during school life. Jacqueline Henritig, a psychology intern at PCC’s Psychological Services, endorses guided meditation as a tool that students can practice to alleviate any stress or anxiety they face.
“We introduce students to relaxation skills like guided meditation, as a lot of students get really stressed out over homework or assignments,” Henritig said. “Practicing meditation each day can reduce your heart rate, lower your autonomic nervous system, everything kid of slows down so you can think better, get more relaxed and prepare for tests.”
According to Henritig, one of the common mistakes students make relates to their thought patterns and falling into ruminating negative thoughts.
“When they get into that state of mind it’s harder to study because they’re in a negative state, so learning to switch around the thoughts is important,” Henritig added.
Each student is entitled to eight free sessions each semester with one of the four pscychology interns at PCC. Students can discuss any difficulties they’re dealing with in their personal life, in a peaceful and confidential setting.
Healthcare has been a controversial topic of recent times.
How much does it cost? How do I apply? Why is it so confusing?
Gary Grayball, a certified enrollment counselor at the Public Health Department in Pasadena, can help PCC students answer these tough questions.
“The goal for us is to help students get health insurance, dental care, medical care, hospitalization assistance, medicine, reproductive care, mental care and emergency care,” Grayball said.
Healthcare insurance, MediCal and Obamacare are the programs students are able to receive guidance on.
“Younger people tend to think they’re invincible and they don’t need medical care and it’s not really a priority,” Grayball added.
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