By Linh Tat
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
At a time when college students are maturing physically and mentally, many fail to pay enough attention to their health.
To help make students’ lives easier, organizations like the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center and Student Psychological Services provide physical and mental health services to UCLA students so they don’t suffer from inadequate nutrition, sleep deprivation or other stressful circumstances.
Students commonly visit the Ashe Center seeking health information or treatment for injuries, colds, the flu, rash, acne or even to buy contraceptives, said Michele Pearson, director of ancillary services at the center.
Students have the option of scheduling appointments, requesting prescription refills and asking E-nurses questions online by going to the center’s Web site.
“E-nurses is a way for UCLA students to ask questions … and to avoid a face to face confrontation,” Pearson said. “It’s well liked and well used. It’s a good educational tool.
“We’re looking not only to help people but to inform them so they can have peace of mind,” she continued.
Though students may avoid a face to face encounter by writing to E-nurses, the service requires that students provide their name and ID number to verify that they are UCLA students.
In addition, the center provides most services free since they receive funding through student registration fees, Pearson said.
“We have the luxury of totally gearing our services to the students,” Pearson said.
But, students must pay for immunization shots, medication, HIV testing and specialty clinics.
Featuring its own laboratory, pharmacy and radiology unit, and providing physical therapy and acupuncture, the center ranks among the top 2 percent of health services on college campuses nationwide, Pearson said.
While Ashe Center programs address physical health issues, students can seek help for emotional stress from Student Psychological Services.
SPS offers individual and group counseling, a clinic that teaches students how to manage stress, and consultation about problems with roommates, parents or a loved one. It is also the parent organization of the Peer Helpline, a student volunteer crisis hotline that takes anonymous phone calls from students during the evening.
Students most commonly seek help from SPS to discuss relationship and academic stress problems, said SPS Director Hal Pruett.
SPS sees roughly seven percent of the entire student body, according to Pruett, who added that he is certain more students need these services but are not receiving them.
“Sometimes students may not know (these services) are available,” Pruett said.
He also said students don’t always seek counseling because they think asking for help is a sign that they are not in control of their own situations, a stigma he hopes to help erase.
Students who seek help visit SPS an average of four to six times to resolve each situation, Pruett said.
Sometimes physical and emotional stress seem to go hand in hand, with one resulting from the other.
For example, the Ashe Center provides nutritional workshops to students who are afraid of gaining weight.
While some students opt for a diet, Pam Viele, director of Student Health Education, said students need to be careful about how they lose weight.
“Especially in L.A., there’s so much emphasis on body image and so much pressure to conform to an ideal body type,” Viele said. “There are many different bodies and shapes that are healthy and beautiful.”
Viele said students may jeopardize their health if they lack proper nutrition.
“Many students haven’t finished growing,” Viele said. “A lot of young women and young men have not reached their full weight, so gaining weight is not a bad thing at all.”
“It’s not good to think of food as good food and bad food. It’s important to get a well-balanced variety of food,” she continued.
Besides diets, specialists at the center work with students to prevent sleep deprivation, a problem many students face.
“It has been estimated that more than half of all college students are sleep deprived,” said Jo Ann Dawson, director of primary care. “Many try to get by on three to five hours of sleep.”
“For any adult body, sleep experts generally recommend seven to eight hours and up to 12 hours a day,” she continued.
Dawson said she recommends students take short naps or even close their eyes if they don’t sleep as a way to rest their bodies and mind.
Common symptoms of a person who is sleep deprived include pain and respiratory cold conditions.
“Some come in complaining they couldn’t remember anything,” Dawson said of students who visited the center during finals week.
To stay awake,some students turn to various stimulants such as coffee or caffeine pills, Dawson said.
“Those agents may give a person a sense that they are more alert,” she said. “But they may end up feeling a contradictory sense of feeling tired, of wanting to sleep and being unable to.”
Dawson said such stimulants may increase a person’s heart rate and leave them nervous or jittery.
“The only cure for sleep deprivation is really to get some sleep,” she said.
She added that students should stop working about 30 minutes before going to bed so they can unwind and rest their mind. She also suggested students exercise regularly to help relieve tension and give them better sleep.
The Ashe Center offers additional services to students living on campus through the Student Health Advocate program, which trains student volunteers in residence halls to provide basic medical information or aid.
“We’re taking services to where students live and learn,” she said, adding that some students prefer going to a SHA because they feel their peers can better identify with them in many cases.
To prevent illness in residence halls, students should take added measures to maintain good personal hygiene, Viele said.
“In any living situation where a lot of people are living in close proximity, the most common thing to prevent an infection is handwashing,” she said. “Be careful of sharing utensils and cups. It would be a good idea to wear (slippers) to the bathroom and showers area to prevent transmission of infection.”
Viele said students should minimize stress by exercising, meditating or participating in some relaxation activity.
“Learning time management skills to allow the person to maintain some sort of social balance, maintaining relationships and developing a strong social support is important,” Viele said.
For more information on the Ashe Center, visit www.saonet.ucla.edu/health.htm. Information about SPS can be found at www.saonet.ucla.edu/sps.htm.
CONTACT INFORMATION Arthur Ashe Student Healthand Wellness Center Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 6:30 pm - Arthur Ashe Building (310) 825-4073 Student Psychology Services Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm - Mid Campus Office 4223 Math Sciences Building (310) 825-0768 - South Campus Office A3-062 Center for Health Sciences (310) 825-7985 Peer Helpline Monday - Thursday 5:00 pm - midnight Friday - Sunday 8:00 pm - midnight (310) 825-HELP SOURCE: Arthur Ashe Center, Student Psychology Services, Peer Helpline Original Graphic by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff