Specials | Pacific Wave: Wellness 2018

(UW)ELLNESS

(UW)ELLNESS

SUPPLEMENT TO THE DAILY UW

A SPECIAL LOOK INTO HEALTH AND WELLNESS AT THE UW, BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE DAILY.

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table of contents UW Farm Interview

editor’s note

Seasonal affective disorder

04 It’s your backbone

Tackling FOMO

06 Personal essays about college

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The Women’s Clinic at Hall Health

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18 Some friends aren’t forever

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Benefits of acupuncture

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Gender inequality in medicine

Photo Essay: “Ocean Trip”

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Work hard, play harder

20 Achieving work-life balance

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Find your yoga happy place

17 Stress at UW

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We feel that wellness is an important focal point for all people, students especially.

In this edition, we delve into many facets of wellness, and offer insight into practicing personal wellness of different kinds. We hope that this information can be of use to our readers as we all begin the new year. ...

(UW)ELLNESS is the first magazine The Daily has ever published. This endeavor was an enriching one for all of us, and it truly gave us an opportunity to step back and try new things. Thank you to Diana Kramer and Rebecca Gross for your guidance and the Advertising team for your hard work; thank you to the multimedia team (Photography, Illustrations, and Video) and Monica Niehaus (Design) for your extra time; and thank you to Mira Petrillo (Wellness) for your extra work and Timothy Kenney (Science) for your insight. We hope you enjoy (UW)ELLNESS.

Introduction to wellness at UW

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Alyson Podesta

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By Hannah Probst

UW farmer talks organics for college students Sophomore farm intern Claire Kasinadhuni discusses food, college, and the environment

Photos by Daniel Kim The Daily: How did you get involved with the farm?

Kasinadhuni: I started out service learning for the UW Farm through Environment 100 my freshman fall quarter. I continued to volunteer through spring, and then winter as well. I found out that they were hiring and I applied.

What is “organic?”

I think about “organic” as no pesticides, no gnarly additives; you can’t put anything into the ground that isn’t naturally going to be

found there. That means dealing with pests naturally. And as a “lifestyle”: putting into your body things that are natural, directly from the ground into you.

Is UW Farm “organic”?

We are technically an organically practicing farm. We follow all the same rules that an organic farm follows, but since we’re so small — only one-and-a-half acres — it’s not feasible for us to get organically certified.

UW Farm is GAP certified (Good Agricultural Practice). and that’s a similar certification

It’s more than just paying for a vegetable. You’re supporting good agricultural practices, and you’re supporting people who believe in that.

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for smaller farms, because it’s not as costly.

Why is it important to eat organically?

Non-organic vegetables don’t take into account externalities, as in, destruction to the environment. If it’s an inorganic farm, we’re pumping pesticides, and that’s creating agricultural runoff. When you pay for organic, you’re also supporting an idea. It’s more than just paying for a vegetable. You’re supporting good agricultural practices, and you’re supporting people who believe in that.

I understand that it is costly, and there are definitely trade-offs to that, especially being a college student, but we’re paying for a healthier planet, which I feel in the long term is important too.

What advice do you have for students who want to eat organically?

So many things. What people don’t know, and it’s kind of upsetting, is that the cheapest

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grown super far across the planet as well, so, win-win, less fossil fuels.

There’s a resource called Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen, which explains which vegetables you should 100 percent buy organic, and which ones are okay to buy non-organic.

Some vegetables use less pesticides when they grow, so those are the ones you can buy inorganic.

food style you can possibly do is brown rice and vegetables. You can definitely affordably eat organically. It involves bulk buying — lentils, beans, like, anything like that in bulk. Buying vegetables in season [is] definitely key because it’s cheapest, and you won’t be buying things that are

Why do people think it is expensive to eat organically?

It is expensive. I should say the cheapest way to eat is brown rice and inorganic vegetables, but if you stopped paying for processed foods, [eating organically] would be way cheaper, because vegetables are cheap in comparison to luxury products.

I think that there’s a misconception around that because people don’t really know how vegetables work, especially, like I mentioned, around in-season stuff. Things that are really prolific sell for a lot less. If you’re eating just by the season, it should be a lot less expensive.

Do you have a favorite vegetable?

I love bell peppers. I eat them like apples.

They’re the best.

Where can students buy organic foods?

The Bean Basket just opened, it’s a bulk whole foods [store] in the HUB. If you go to the year-round [University District] Farmers Market first of the month, you get $2 off. That way you can get familiar with what vegetables are in season.

What else is important for students to know about food?

The food system is really wrapped up in global warming. The top solutions to CO2 have to do with the food system. We use a lot of land for food production. Doing it in a sustainable way is super important. That includes also dealing with our meat industry, which is big source of CO2, people eating more plantbased foods, and buying food that you’re going to eat and not throw away. It’s really important to educate ourselves about how our food industry works toward our planet.

Reach writer Hannah Probst at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @hannahpwrites

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By Kendall Upton

Dealing with seasonal affective disorder For those who are not natives of the Pacific Northwest, or simply not familiar with living in this environment, autumn and winter can quickly seem a gray and inescapable wasteland. Day after day of rain can get old quickly: last year, Seattle broke its 1895 record for most rainfall between October and April, dumping 44.67 inches of rain on its constantly soaked denizens. It would take 40 years to rain that same amount in Yuma, Arizona. Having sunny days only 28 percent of the time in the winter months in Seattle isn’t exactly encouraging data for people who prefer nicer weather.

Dreary weather can spawn a plethora of health issues that become particularly relevant to UW students and faculty. Seasonal affective disorder, known commonly by the apt acronym SAD, is a mental health condition induced by gloomy weather. What’s more, natives of the region or those of similar climates are not exempt from experiencing these “winter blues,” and many who have lived here their entire lives are just as susceptible.

SAD is a subtype of depression that presents itself most often in the fall and winter months and begins to wane as the sun gradually returns for spring. There’s another type of SAD that seasonally inverted, with depressive symptoms manifesting in the summertime. Clearly, SAD has the capacity to highly alter its victims’ lives.

A few UW students shared their personal testimonials about their experiences with seasonal affective disorder: “I deal with major depression all the time, [SAD] just manifests as … I get lower days more often, I’ll feel less energized, feel compelled to stay in bed more often, and then occasionally when it is sunny I’ll get more amped than normal,” said junior Tessa Achevarra, who hails from Olympia, Washington. She has experienced SAD for several years.

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These symptoms are typical for people who experience SAD. Hypersomnia, social withdrawal, overeating, and craving carbohydrates are all common symptoms of SAD, in addition to typical major depressive disorder symptoms. Being in the particular climate that we are can put people who already battle with depression and other mental health conditions at a certain disadvantage for a sizeable chunk of the year. UW students and faculty, from Seattle or not, should take extra care to prevent themselves from getting weighed down by the weather.

Other studies have found that those with SAD have a particular genetic difference that causes their brains to have more of a serotonin transporter protein in winter months than in summer months. While this may seem contradictory to what would be assumed, an increase of this protein actually inhibits the use of serotonin in the brain.

Unfortunately, the causes of SAD are uncertain to this day, and the main key to

So what can be done? “For seasonal affective disorder, as for other types of depression, the benefits of regular exercise and a healthy diet cannot be overemphasized,” Dr. Pamela Sheffield said in an article she wrote in 2014 for The Whole U. “Unfortunately, I hear from many people that they work out until it starts raining — which is exactly when exercise is most needed. A daily walk is a great start, or you can take advantage of the many opportunities for indoor and outdoor recreation that the Pacific Northwest offers year-round.”

Emerson McNamee prevention is an understanding of the cause.

One theory suggests that people with SAD overproduce melatonin. Daylight triggers our brains to wake up, just as darkness triggers it to power down. It does this through the release of melatonin in our brains which makes us grow tired. In the winter months, when the days are skewed so that daylight is scarce and darkness is plentiful, it can affect our circadian rhythms, or our biological clocks. This may account for the lethargy experienced by victims of SAD.

Vitamin D is a more obvious culprit. It’s an essential vitamin that we get from sunlight and from certain foods that is involved with serotonin production. When the sun isn’t around as much, vitamin D isn’t either.

A lesser-known resource available to students to help with SAD is light therapy.

People can make appointments with the UW Counseling Center to use a light box that produces 10,000 lux, a unit used to measure light intensity. That’s about 20 times brighter than normal room lighting.

Numerous studies have shown the efficacy of sitting in front of a light box for about 30 minutes a day to ease the symptoms of SAD, with most people seeing improvement one to two weeks after starting light therapy and maintaining consistency. Hall Health Center offers this service as well and, at both locations, it is completely free of charge.

Senior Eleanor Guthrie, who grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, is all too familiar with seasonal affective disorder. At a latitude where the winter months bring 20 hours

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of darkness and four hours of daylight each day, SAD can be a prevalent worry in her community.

“I think it’s definitely a problem,” says Guthrie. “My family at least did a lot of things to prevent it. We take vitamin D supplements every single morning in the winter … We do try to take a vacation in the springtime to get away, to go to Hawaii or something, California or somewhere warm to get a break from it all.”

In line with Dr. Sheffield’s recommendations, Guthrie stressed the importance of staying active in a time where all you might want to do is hibernate under a down comforter. While she hasn’t dealt with SAD herself, many members of her family certainly did.

“I think that when it’s so dark outside, people tend to stay inside more, and it’s cold and people tend to get holed up in their homes, get a little cabin fever, go a little stir crazy,” Guthrie said. “But my family was always really active — we go cross-country skiing, my dad and I got really into snowboarding a couple years back, sledding — just

as many things as we can do outside.”

Luckily for Fairbanks, the summer is a big payoff in that the inverse of daylight becomes the norm: 20 hours of daylight and only four hours of darkness.

Lucille Cousin, a junior, lived in the Bahamas for five years prior to coming to the United States in her junior year of high school. Cousin has felt the effects of SAD for the past several years.

“I never felt it until I moved to Seattle, that’s for sure,” Cousin said. “It’s harder to get out of bed, harder to do anything.

I definitely feel it every year, as soon as it starts raining, as soon as it gets greyer outside … Even the rain wasn’t that big of a deal, I think just the fact that it’s so grey outside… When I lived in the Bahamas it was constant sunshine, so that transition was definitely a difficult one.”

Cousin’s mother and sister experienced their migration to Seattle similarly. This points to a gendered element of SAD as well: it’s diagnosed four times more often in women than in men.

“And this is true for most mental disorders, but giving in to it makes it worse,” Achevarra said. “Giving in to wanting to stay in bed, giving in to the lack of motivation makes it worse. I tend to, when it’s rainy out, close all my blinds and not look outside, but I think that can be even worse.”

Whatever the state of your mental health, it’s worth being conscientious of the effects that fall and winter can have on a person, especially in Seattle. Be mindful of how you respond to the season, and how the people around you do too. Not everyone’s mood reflects the dismal weather as it changes (and plenty of people enjoy the rain), but for some people, falling leaves can mark the arrival of a somber season ahead. Knowing the options that help alleviate the winter blues could make all the difference for them.

Reach writer Kendall Upton at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @KendallSUpton

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By Samantha Bushman

Tackling FOMO It’s Friday night and no one is home. The lights are dim and you’re snuggled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and the second season of “Stranger Things.”

Then, a buzz. You check your phone expecting to see another depressing news headline but instead it’s just Instagram. From

there things spiral out of control. You open your phone to a slough of Halloween posts.

Snapchat closely follows. There are stories upon stories of parties, dinners, and dates.

Pictures of international travel and group activities bombard your brain that moments ago was dedicated to the Upside Down.

Suddenly, you feel it. “Why am I alone right now?,” you ask yourself. “Do I even have friends? Do they care?”

It’s that deep, gut-wrenching notion that you should be somewhere else. That being alone isn’t okay, and inevitably, you’re missing out.

Defining FOMO: Once slang, in June 2015, FOMO was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary. The acronym stands for “fear of missing out.”

“A pervasive apprehension that others might be having regarding experiences from which one is absent, FOMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing,” a study by Andrew Przybylski said.

Heightened levels of FOMO are most often associated with social media use. The more an individual views events that others are taking a part of through platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, the more likely they are to feel negatively about their own experiences.

“In many ways, social media utilities such can be thought of as reducing the ‘cost of admission’ for being socially engaged,” Przybylski writes.

College students today are more likely to be impacted by FOMO because they are the first generation of people to grow up with social media so closely woven into their lives.

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Faith Kim

In a study by Psychology Today, researchers found a decrease in privacy and increase in dissatisfaction with one’s life emerged as the primary negative consequences of FOMO. Przybylski’s study found

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that FOMO was related to greater engagement with Facebook; people with low mood and overall inability to be satisfied with life suffered the most.

A relatively new topic in the social psych world, FOMO research is just beginning. So far, it has been mainly focused on defining what causes FOMO, and how it affects college students. Since social media is constantly evolving, so is the work that’s done around it. Older people have been found to be less engaged with social media, making FOMO almost a nonissue in generations other than millennials.

Defining FOMO for students is difficult because every person experiences it in their own individual social universe. Although there is science behind social interactions, the reality of FOMO is different for everyone.

Experiences: Billy Ding, a senior, rushed a fraternity his freshman year but decided not to join.

“I find out about what I’m missing out on by seeing posts on Facebook and Snapchat from my friends,” Ding said. “I guess I don’t really deal with it.”

For some millennials, FOMO isn’t an issue.

“I don’t really fear missing out because I’m constantly missing out, always,” Kaylen Dailey said. “So it’s not something I fear, I just accept it.”

Dailey lived in North Campus dorms her freshman year, but spent a large portion of that time at home with her family and boyfriend in Woodinville. Now, she’s moved back across the lake and commutes to class daily.

“I just don’t care about what most people in college are doing,” Dailey said. “I don’t feel like I gain anything from a typical college experience because I just don’t like the stuff that goes with it.”

Dailey followed up this interview with a picture of a dog and the caption, “This is my life.”

Others, however, will sacrifice their health to avoid missing out.

“I could feel how sore my throat was, but I was like screw it, let’s go out,” freshman Maddy Turner said. “The next day I was dying so I went to the doctor and they told me I had tonsillitis. You always know what people are doing (in the Greek system) and it makes it hard to not be there with them.”

Fighting the fear: To fight FOMO, try spending less time on social media and start talking to people.

Regardless of what the science says, every moment your eyes aren’t glued to the explore page of Instagram is one you’re spending interacting with the outside world.

Instead of posting that “happy birthday” message ON Facebook, give your long-lost relative a call. Show up at your friends door with a cupcake and musical birthday card.

Arrange to meet them in the Starbucks line at Suzzallo to personally discuss which 11 pictures will go in their Internet birthday collage. You’ll have time.

Get more involved. The UW Student Activities Office has a list of student organizations (RSOs) that you can join. Send them an email, go to a meeting, or talk to a representative.

Another way to be connected is by joining the Greek system.

I found more people willing to work around my schedule and communicate with me.”

Long-term solutions: There are no scientific remedies to FOMO. The condition, however, can act as important insight to social interactions and the need for humans to be a part of a group. Everyone experiences FOMO differently. Understanding how and what causes it will ultimately help scientists understand the role social media plays in social development.

“Just be yourself and keep in contact with people you really care about,” student Monique Sternik said.

Reach writer Samantha Bushman at specials@dailyuw.com Twitter: @sammi_bushman

While “going Greek” is not for everyone, if you’re scared of finding yourself alone on a Friday night, there’s always something going on. While fraternities are pretty much always recruiting, sororities go through formal recruitment every September and continuous open bidding for those that want to join in a more low-pressure environment.

If the idea of Greek letters appeal to you, but Panhellenic isn’t your jam, consider joining an academic fraternity. These career-driven student organizations focus on academic interests through a social community and don’t require the living commitment of a traditional house.

If you can determine that the issue isn’t with who you’re not hanging out with, but how much time you’re spending at work or other activities that require a low level of social interaction, it may be time to reevaluate your schedule. Learning how to balance work and play is a delicate concept, but mastering it can lead to social contentment.

“It made me feel out of the loop because during the hours that I was spending at work, my friends could be out doing other things,” sophomore Courtney James said. “It got better when

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By Mira Petrillo

It’s your backbone

Understand your spinal anatomy and you’ll feel better Most people think of the spine as one entity in which our skull rests and our pelvis thrusts. However, it is important to understand the anatomy of your back as an interconnected collection of bones among nerves, tendons, muscles, and ligaments that work together to enable your movement.

Each vertebrae is its own entity, and understanding this is crucial in forward folding and backbending properly, which are key exercises in ensuring spinal health.

For instance, when most people bend down to touch their toes, they fold at the hips and let their spine fold in vertebrae groups. Instead, what should be happening is that each vertebrae should be thought of as an individual part curling and stacking on top of the next.

To practice forward bending properly, have a pal stand behind you and point out when the spine is folding together instead of as individual vertebrae stacking on top of each other in order to bring awareness to the potential of your forward bend. Start the forward bend by bringing your chin onto your chest, and then imagine you are rolling into yourself while maintaining focus on the individual vertebrae.

Forward folding in this way will allow for your spine to fully release and receive the maximum benefits of forward folding as a way to counteract all the sitting we do.

The reverse of forward folding, and one of the most important exercises for spine health, is backbending. Backbending requires the same awareness on the individual vertebrae to reach its full potential. With 10

my experience, understanding the spine as individual vertebrae allows for the most liberating backbends.

In the same approach, stand on your knees and place your hands facing outward near the bottom of your back to set up for camel posture to achieve a moderate backbend. Let your head drop back in the opposite action like that of a forward fold, while paying the same attention to including the top

Raising awareness of your spine has the potential to make your entire body feel lighter and more flexible. vertebrae in the spinal exercise. Then, with your awareness on the spine as individual vertebrae, let your back arch back into the pose. Again, hopefully someone can stand behind you and watch to point out when your back begins to move in chunks, rather than in the individual stacking method.

Backbends are good not only for preserving the health of the vertebrae but also in stimulating the proper functioning

of the digestive system and opening the body to full diaphragmatic breathing. It is important, however, to know that backbends are demanding on the lumbar region of the spine; to keep this area safe, tuck the tailbone in and engage the core.

The regions in which the individual vertebrae are divided into play a role in spinal health.

Firstly, the top seven vertebrae in the area of your neck are called the cervical spine.

Below the neck is the thoracic spine, made up of 12 vertebrae. The thoracic spine, when standing up straight, should be pressed in. Imagine the thoracic spine as deeper than your shoulders for good posture.

Finally, the last five vertebrae are called the lumbar spine, and is the most sensitive area of your back. It’s built for power and flexibility, but can be easily damaged when it’s not taken care of.

Raising awareness of your spine has the potential to make your entire body feel lighter and more flexible. Give backbending and forward folding a try, and see what it does to how your body feels.

This information is based on information taken from trainings under yoga masters Baron Baptiste and Leslie Kaminoff.

Reach Wellness Editor Mira Petrillo at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @mirap

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Backward Folding

Infographic by Chloe Yeo

Spinal Health: Get to know your spine

Cervical Spine

Thoracic Spine

e s s f e

1. Stand on your knees 2. Place hands facing

outward near the bottom of your back

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3. Let your head drop

back in the opposite action of a forward fold

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, , d n

Spinal Column Structure

Lumbar Spine

Forward Folding

d e d n

e l g t

n s INCORRECT

CORRECT

Folding at the hips

Spotter to correct spine folding

Spine folding in vertebrae groups

Individual vertebrae stacking on top of each other

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Taking chances How my homesickness turned to happiness I vividly remember my first night in the dorms. My parents, sister, and I piled into my dad’s Prius, loaded with my carefully labeled boxes, and drove to the UW. As we walked into Haggett, my mom looked around the halls, curious as to who my new neighbors would be.

I begged my parents to take me to dinner the first night in the dorms my freshman year of college. The idea of meeting so many new people for dinner and having to immediately make a good impression was intimidating.

My parents caved, and we went to dinner together in University Village while I looked at other students and wondered if they had just moved in too.

My parents dropped me off in front of the dorms that night. My roommate was back from band practice, so we spent the night getting to know each other. However, band practice took up most of her time, and it became apparent that I would need to branch off to make my own friends.

Technology nowadays makes it easier to keep in touch with family. This can be a blessing, but also a crutch. During those first few days in college, it was easy to keep

By Sara Podwall

to myself and video chat with my family at night. Dawg Daze was the week before classes started, and instead of pushing myself to meet new people, I was content chatting with my friends who were away at other colleges.

It was my mom who suggested weekly video chats. I think she foresaw my antisocial tendencies and wanted to encourage me to get out and make friends. I went to Dawg Daze events and pushed myself to go out despite some initial discomfort. During the difficult transition from living with family to living essentially on your own, I did still feel homesick. I just didn’t let it consume me.

When I studied abroad, I was anxious again. I didn’t know anyone in the program and worried about having to make a whole new group of friends. My parents were encouraging. They said we’d keep in touch, just like when I started college. My younger sister promised she’d text me every day.

When I started my program, though, I found that I didn’t feel the need to call my parents and friends as much. I still missed them, but I wasn’t in constant communication with people from home. I would

Club-hopping my way home My head throbbed as I sniffled my way through the Quad on the first day of my freshman year. Nevertheless, I was determined to make it through the activities fair to the club I’d been set on joining since my senior year of high school: the ski team. It beckoned me, until I found something even better: Husky Winter Sports.

I hastily scribbled my name on form after form, supporting the Seattle subway, feminist literature, and National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws pro choice, and I even briefly spoke with someone from the Daily who encouraged me to apply.

Majorless, lost, and wary of seeing people from my high school, I spent fall quarter in introductory meeting after introductory meeting until I fell in love with Husky Winter Sports in a bar at Whistler.

Winter quarter, I rushed the club. I logged miles on the shortest runs in Washington. I 12

By Molly Quinton

Erika Morales sometimes push back video call appointments with my parents when I was out and would feel guilty later when I didn’t have enough time to call them. After a few weeks of being too busy for long calls and feeling bad, I realized it was okay.

By disconnecting a little bit from my friends and family back at home, I threw myself into new experiences. I made plans with new friends and didn’t worry about what others were doing. This improved my experience, and I made stronger connections.

Of course, I still kept in contact with people at home; I just gave myself more room to be in the present where I was.

Homesickness, especially in college, is normal. Parents and friends will appreciate you checking in with them, but having your mind elsewhere will take away the focus of new experiences in front of you. I was much happier when I pushed myself to connect with new people, even though it was initially harder.

Reach writer Sara Podwall at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @sarapodwall

By Samantha Bushman

met successful, intelligent people and had “get-to-know-you” meetings on the ski lifts.

Then, I quit.

I applied to the Daily. One of those ski lift conversations was a lollipop moment that pushed me over the edge. I had been interested in journalism my whole life and talking about my hopes for the future with other people made me realize how much I wanted to pursue it.

Now, I’m a writer. I fell in love with seeing my name in print. I go to meetings, interview cool people, recently got my first column, and finally settled on my major (Communication, obviously). I didn’t end up being a ski teacher, but my experiences led me to something greater: finding what I’m passionate about.

Community is invaluable. Not only does it give you connections for your future, but it

Erika Morales gives you something to look forward to at the end of a long day. It’s a powerful feeling to be among people who share your interests. It can inspire, motivate, and uplift you. I would never have begun to find that community if I binge-watched Netflix every weekend.

My advice is to put yourself out there.

Try new things. Drop out of clubs, change your major if you need to, and go to different meetings, even if just for the free food. Don’t stay in your dorm all day. Have conversations that scare you. Explore, in whatever way appeals to you.

Reach writer Samantha Bushman at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @sammi_bushman

Acupuncture and migraines: Finding the treatment that works for you Thin, small needles are carefully tapped into my brow. A few more are placed into my hairline, temples, and eventually my stomach. Five minutes into the treatment I fall asleep, and when I wake up at the end of the hour-long session, my headache is basically gone.

As someone who has been dealing with migraines since I was 12, I know that finding an effective treatment is no small feat. I’ve suffered from chronic migraines for over a decade now, primarily manifesting with vomiting and sensitivity to light. I also sometimes experience an aura where vision can become blurry. On average, I experience three to four headaches per week and full blown migraine attacks around four times per month, and even after years of trying to find what works best, some months are still a lot worse than others.

Migraines refer to headaches of varying intensity, often accompanied by nausea or sensitivity to light and sound. It is classified as a brain disorder, described as an abnormal state of the brain where your brain becomes hyperexcitable to stimuli. Migraines are very common, with around 3 million cases in the United States per year.

a lot of different categories of medicine from anticonvulsants to antidepressants to beta-blockers to Botox injections.

This is where treatments such as acupuncture come in.

Acupuncture is a therapy in which thin needles are inserted into the skin at particular points, focusing on stimulating specific body points. During treatment, needles are typically inserted up to two inches and remain in the body for about 20 minutes. Needles are regulated by the USDA and must be nontoxic, sterile, and only used one time each by qualified practitioners.

There are two main philosophical approaches to acupuncture. Chinese medical concepts describe illness and disease as a disturbance of qi, or energy, within the body. Acupuncture aims to re-establish the correct flow of qi through the body.

Western medical acupuncture is a modern scientific approach, which is based on the biological effects of needling. It has been found to have effects both on local points, where the needles are directly placed, and in distant points, where the needles are not inserted.

Abortive medicines can be over the counter or a prescription medicine, and can be a variety of different types of medications. Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (such as Advil or Aleve), and triptans (such as Sumatriptan) are all categories of medication commonly used to stop migraines as they happen.

There have been a series of studies looking at the effectiveness of acupuncture as migraine treatment. While there has been some dissent over the results, several studies have shown that sustained acupuncture, consisting of six or more treatment sessions, can be a valuable option for migraine treatment.

Other studies have especially shown that the combination of acupuncture in addition to symptomatic treatment of attacks, such as anti-nausea medication, can be extremely useful, and may reduce the frequency of the most common types of migraines.

There aren’t that many medicines that were specifically engineered to treat migraines. Preventive medications cover

Because migraines are so personal to each individual who suffers from them, a varied approach to treatment

Traditional migraine treatment is thought of in two steps: abortive medicines, or those intended to stop a migraine, and preventive medicines, or those intended to prevent migraines.

Monica Niehaus is essential to give those who suffer from them a wide variety of options. For me, this has meant a combination of preventive medications, Botox injections, yoga, dietary changes, and at times over the years, acupuncture. Be open minded and explore different treatments to find what works best for you.

Reach News Editor Molly Quinton at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @molly_quinton

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Taking chances How my homesickness turned to happiness I vividly remember my first night in the dorms. My parents, sister, and I piled into my dad’s Prius, loaded with my carefully labeled boxes, and drove to the UW. As we walked into Haggett, my mom looked around the halls, curious as to who my new neighbors would be.

I begged my parents to take me to dinner the first night in the dorms my freshman year of college. The idea of meeting so many new people for dinner and having to immediately make a good impression was intimidating.

My parents caved, and we went to dinner together in University Village while I looked at other students and wondered if they had just moved in too.

My parents dropped me off in front of the dorms that night. My roommate was back from band practice, so we spent the night getting to know each other. However, band practice took up most of her time, and it became apparent that I would need to branch off to make my own friends.

Technology nowadays makes it easier to keep in touch with family. This can be a blessing, but also a crutch. During those first few days in college, it was easy to keep

By Sara Podwall

to myself and video chat with my family at night. Dawg Daze was the week before classes started, and instead of pushing myself to meet new people, I was content chatting with my friends who were away at other colleges.

It was my mom who suggested weekly video chats. I think she foresaw my antisocial tendencies and wanted to encourage me to get out and make friends. I went to Dawg Daze events and pushed myself to go out despite some initial discomfort. During the difficult transition from living with family to living essentially on your own, I did still feel homesick. I just didn’t let it consume me.

When I studied abroad, I was anxious again. I didn’t know anyone in the program and worried about having to make a whole new group of friends. My parents were encouraging. They said we’d keep in touch, just like when I started college. My younger sister promised she’d text me every day.

When I started my program, though, I found that I didn’t feel the need to call my parents and friends as much. I still missed them, but I wasn’t in constant communication with people from home. I would

Club-hopping my way home My head throbbed as I sniffled my way through the Quad on the first day of my freshman year. Nevertheless, I was determined to make it through the activities fair to the club I’d been set on joining since my senior year of high school: the ski team. It beckoned me, until I found something even better: Husky Winter Sports.

I hastily scribbled my name on form after form, supporting the Seattle subway, feminist literature, and National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws pro choice, and I even briefly spoke with someone from the Daily who encouraged me to apply.

Majorless, lost, and wary of seeing people from my high school, I spent fall quarter in introductory meeting after introductory meeting until I fell in love with Husky Winter Sports in a bar at Whistler.

Winter quarter, I rushed the club. I logged miles on the shortest runs in Washington. I 12

By Molly Quinton

Erika Morales sometimes push back video call appointments with my parents when I was out and would feel guilty later when I didn’t have enough time to call them. After a few weeks of being too busy for long calls and feeling bad, I realized it was okay.

By disconnecting a little bit from my friends and family back at home, I threw myself into new experiences. I made plans with new friends and didn’t worry about what others were doing. This improved my experience, and I made stronger connections.

Of course, I still kept in contact with people at home; I just gave myself more room to be in the present where I was.

Homesickness, especially in college, is normal. Parents and friends will appreciate you checking in with them, but having your mind elsewhere will take away the focus of new experiences in front of you. I was much happier when I pushed myself to connect with new people, even though it was initially harder.

Reach writer Sara Podwall at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @sarapodwall

By Samantha Bushman

met successful, intelligent people and had “get-to-know-you” meetings on the ski lifts.

Then, I quit.

I applied to the Daily. One of those ski lift conversations was a lollipop moment that pushed me over the edge. I had been interested in journalism my whole life and talking about my hopes for the future with other people made me realize how much I wanted to pursue it.

Now, I’m a writer. I fell in love with seeing my name in print. I go to meetings, interview cool people, recently got my first column, and finally settled on my major (Communication, obviously). I didn’t end up being a ski teacher, but my experiences led me to something greater: finding what I’m passionate about.

Community is invaluable. Not only does it give you connections for your future, but it

Erika Morales gives you something to look forward to at the end of a long day. It’s a powerful feeling to be among people who share your interests. It can inspire, motivate, and uplift you. I would never have begun to find that community if I binge-watched Netflix every weekend.

My advice is to put yourself out there.

Try new things. Drop out of clubs, change your major if you need to, and go to different meetings, even if just for the free food. Don’t stay in your dorm all day. Have conversations that scare you. Explore, in whatever way appeals to you.

Reach writer Samantha Bushman at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @sammi_bushman

Acupuncture and migraines: Finding the treatment that works for you Thin, small needles are carefully tapped into my brow. A few more are placed into my hairline, temples, and eventually my stomach. Five minutes into the treatment I fall asleep, and when I wake up at the end of the hour-long session, my headache is basically gone.

As someone who has been dealing with migraines since I was 12, I know that finding an effective treatment is no small feat. I’ve suffered from chronic migraines for over a decade now, primarily manifesting with vomiting and sensitivity to light. I also sometimes experience an aura where vision can become blurry. On average, I experience three to four headaches per week and full blown migraine attacks around four times per month, and even after years of trying to find what works best, some months are still a lot worse than others.

Migraines refer to headaches of varying intensity, often accompanied by nausea or sensitivity to light and sound. It is classified as a brain disorder, described as an abnormal state of the brain where your brain becomes hyperexcitable to stimuli. Migraines are very common, with around 3 million cases in the United States per year.

a lot of different categories of medicine from anticonvulsants to antidepressants to beta-blockers to Botox injections.

This is where treatments such as acupuncture come in.

Acupuncture is a therapy in which thin needles are inserted into the skin at particular points, focusing on stimulating specific body points. During treatment, needles are typically inserted up to two inches and remain in the body for about 20 minutes. Needles are regulated by the USDA and must be nontoxic, sterile, and only used one time each by qualified practitioners.

There are two main philosophical approaches to acupuncture. Chinese medical concepts describe illness and disease as a disturbance of qi, or energy, within the body. Acupuncture aims to re-establish the correct flow of qi through the body.

Western medical acupuncture is a modern scientific approach, which is based on the biological effects of needling. It has been found to have effects both on local points, where the needles are directly placed, and in distant points, where the needles are not inserted.

Abortive medicines can be over the counter or a prescription medicine, and can be a variety of different types of medications. Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (such as Advil or Aleve), and triptans (such as Sumatriptan) are all categories of medication commonly used to stop migraines as they happen.

There have been a series of studies looking at the effectiveness of acupuncture as migraine treatment. While there has been some dissent over the results, several studies have shown that sustained acupuncture, consisting of six or more treatment sessions, can be a valuable option for migraine treatment.

Other studies have especially shown that the combination of acupuncture in addition to symptomatic treatment of attacks, such as anti-nausea medication, can be extremely useful, and may reduce the frequency of the most common types of migraines.

There aren’t that many medicines that were specifically engineered to treat migraines. Preventive medications cover

Because migraines are so personal to each individual who suffers from them, a varied approach to treatment

Traditional migraine treatment is thought of in two steps: abortive medicines, or those intended to stop a migraine, and preventive medicines, or those intended to prevent migraines.

Monica Niehaus is essential to give those who suffer from them a wide variety of options. For me, this has meant a combination of preventive medications, Botox injections, yoga, dietary changes, and at times over the years, acupuncture. Be open minded and explore different treatments to find what works best for you.

Reach News Editor Molly Quinton at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @molly_quinton

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By Rebecca Gross

What’s the prognosis?

Gender inequalities in the medical field

Aurora San Miguel

UW student Madison Eggerding held back tears as she told me stories of the women she has been interviewing for her senior thesis researching autoimmune diseases and their misdiagnoses.

“I have one case study I’ve gotten really close to. She has lupus; she is terminal,” Eggerding told me as we sat in the packed Starbucks in Suzzallo. “She is terminal because they didn’t diagnose her for six years.”

For six years. This echoed in my ears. I felt, “Wow” slip out of my mouth in an astonished whisper. This story Eggerding was sharing was one of resilience, despite the frustration and heartbreak that was undoubtedly paired with being misdiagnosed by medical professionals who would eventually tell her that what she has is killing her.

“She also is around college age,” Eggerding added. “She is actually going to nursing school despite all of this. Because she wants to [help].”

Eggerding’s experiences have made her want to help, too. This is where her research comes in.

Since she was 14, Eggerding, herself, had gone to doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment for symptoms nobody could diagnose. She was told she had an anxiety disorder, that she was stressed. The reality?

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She had something called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), an autoimmune disease, most likely caused by her celiac disease, which had gone undiagnosed for the first 18 years of her life.

“I had a lot of misdiagnoses,” Eggerding said. “And a lot by male doctors who assumed I was just stressed out.”

For women across the board, this instance is common. A pain or discomfort, a health concern, or even a question about her reproductive rights requires another trip to a doctor’s office; for many women, this means another occasion of being ignored, brushed aside, or discounted by medical professionals.

According to Dr. Nancy Kenney, who teaches psychobiology of women here at the UW, the disregard women experience in doctors’ offices is not an isolated instance.

Not even close.

“Sadly this is a long historical point, where not just young women, but all women, have been assumed to be ignorant of their bodies, and in many cases incapable of understanding these serious complex issues anyway,” Kenney said. “And so, there’s always been a situation in which women have been treated rather paternalistically, even by female practitioners. But I mean, it’s better. I have to say, things are better

today than they were in the past. But are they good? No.” This assumed ignorance — the assumption that women have no clue what’s going on inside their bodies — is a harsh reality many women have had to endure as soon as they started going to doctors for issues beyond just checkups. Many people forget that components of society force women into doctors’ offices, even if they aren’t experiencing any health issues.

“Women, because of their needs for reproductive health and the fact that we need to go to a medical practitioner and get a prescription for contraceptives, we’re stuck! Guys don’t have to do that,” Kenney pointed out.

Women don’t have the option to get birth control over the counter, unless they want to rely on condoms, or Plan B One-Step after sex, for less than dependable results.

If they want a reliable form of birth control that will protect them from pregnancy, they need to go to a doctor to get those contraceptives. This in itself automatically exposes women to more interactions with medical professionals, and likely reinforces the stereotypes that women complain more, are overactive about health concerns, and can even be ignorant about their bodies.

In reality, for women to keep their bodies

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safe and well, doctors’ appointments are necessary and important.

However, it also means that when a woman does go to the doctor for a health concern, the physician may have this preconceived notion and assume that she is making a fuss about nothing, or acting irrationally.

This is where Eggerding really experienced the gap between female patients and their doctors.

“The doctors kind of gaslight you, if you’re a woman especially,” Eggerding said with passion. “Gaslighting is interesting because they don’t do it intentionally, but I think because of the biases that already exist in medicine and whatever they’re exposed to as an individual doctor … they’ll pathologize women with a mental health issue.”

Eggerding was misdiagnosed with an eating disorder before they discovered her celiac disease and MCAS. The fact that she was in too much pain to eat slipped by medical professionals for years before they found the true cause of what was making her lose weight.

It’s a common occurrence for women to be misdiagnosed with stress, depression, or anxiety as the main cause of their symptoms.

As Kenney explained, this is a pattern rooted in the history of medicine and psychology.

Hysteria — a term used as early as in ancient Greece, but popularized by Freud — describes a psychological condition that, historically, only women could be diagnosed with. Hysteria would now be classified into other more specific disorders, such as schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, conversion disorder, anxiety attacks, or a variety of other conditions which, for the record, are all disorders both men and women can be diagnosed with.

“I’m looking into [hysteria] because a lot of women who were diagnosed with it in the past actually ended up having autoimmune diseases,” Eggerding said.

She mentioned that multiple sclerosis, specifically, was an autoimmune disorder that was historically mistaken for hysteria.

This problematic surmise has popped through the medical bubble and has been brought to the forefront in pop culture for years. Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” focused on this problem in 1963. Her protagonist, Esther Greenwood, struggles to get the medical treatment she needs for her psychological symptoms, and is gaslit by medical professionals. In a Nylon article, Naomi Elias

writes, “This is how ‘The Bell Jar’ exists in our cultural memory, as a kind of familiar word cloud where the most prominent word is ‘woman,’ and the second is ‘sad,’ with other nouns and adjectives like ‘outsider’ and ‘misunderstood’ filling out the rest of the cumulus.” This cultural memory has not changed in the 54 years since Plath’s novel was published, and we’re still having this conversation.

Many people forget that components of society force women into doctors’ offices, even if they aren’t experiencing any health issues.

Is this never-ending conversation about women being taken care of in the health industry a result of Freudian theory, of his proclamation that a woman’s somatic symptoms are solely manifestations of her mind?

society as a whole. Whether Freud laid a framework for women’s symptoms to be discounted or his framework was a result of already existing biases can’t fully be parsed out, but the problem here lies in the reality so many women still experience in 2017 every time they step into a doctor’s office.

Eggerding’s experiences left such a long-lasting impact on her that she decided more people needed to hear about this difficulty so many women deal with. Her senior thesis is geared toward exposing this issue.

“My thesis is actually a [quarterly] interdisciplinary magazine that I’m starting here at [the] UW,” Eggerding said. “So it’s going to be called Autoimmunity, and it’s specifically about autoimmune diseases and women. I’m not only going to focus on women, but the first issue is about women and how little there is actually known about autoimmune diseases.”

The first issue, according to Eggerding, will be “geared toward spreading awareness about autoimmune diseases and how people are so frequently left behind by the medical system.”

About 78 percent of the population with autoimmune diseases are women.

“I don’t know if [Freud] laid a framework, or if that’s a symptom of how women have never been taken seriously,” Kenney said.

“On all aspects, when you get into the nitty gritty, you find that there are these gender inequalities that make you sit up and take notice when you pay attention to them,” Kenney said. “They are so ingrained in the system, though, that most people don’t pay any attention to them. It doesn’t even occur to them because it’s just the way it is.”

Dr. Natacha Foo Kune, director of the counseling center at the UW, also weighed in on this question of Freud’s influence on this problem.

Reach Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Gross at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @becsgross

“I think, yes, a lot of our somatic symptoms, like the physical manifestations of problems, can have a psychological underpinning: stress and things like that,” Foo Kune admitted. “But, sometimes it does mean that we discount. And sometimes it’s kind of hard to separate the two.”

While mental health absolutely affects bodily symptoms, and can contribute to them in some instances, it can also be a “chicken and egg” situation. Being misdiagnosed can lead to stress, too. Also, the incapability of the medical industry to take women seriously cannot be separated from the position women take in 15

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By Cristen Jansson

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Wellness where and when you need it: The Women’s Clinic at Hall Health Enter Hall Health, go down the hall and down the stairs, and you come across the Women’s Clinic. The clinic, while offering a variety of services catered toward women, specializes in gynecologic, obstetric, and preventive care. They provide everything from annual checkups to family planning and even sexual assault support. The clinic is open Monday through Friday with dropins available.

Angela Ramirez Wood, a consulting nurse who works at the Women’s Clinic, gives advice to those who are diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

“I meet with the patient, and I go through all the counseling, so I tell them what their diagnosis means, how it was caused, and I counsel them on how to get treated,” Wood said. “I assist them with getting their prescription, and any partner’s prescriptions.”

They not only help the patient, but also the patient’s partner.

“In our clinic, if someone turns up positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia, we treat the patient, and then we can also provide a free prescription to treat them and [any] partners they’ve had in the last 60 days,” Wood said.

Patricia Atwater is the director of health promotion at Hall Health. She and Wood made a podcast where they talk about STDs. The bacterial STD called chlamydia is especially concerning for women, as it can lead to infertility if left untreated.

“Women of a certain age are more likely to have a chlamydia infection,” Atwater said.

“When women turn 21, it is recommended that they have their first Pap smear, [which is] a test of the cells of the cervix,” Wood said.

“It tests for any abnormal cells and possibly

HPV [Human Papillomavirus Infection].

It’s basically a pre-cancer screening [for cervical cancer].”

The clinic will also usually test for chlamydia and gonorrhea during a person’s first Pap test. Any of these tests can be done at Hall Health. The cost of these tests is usually covered by insurance because it is considered preventative care.

However, you can also get more types of tests done and receive almost any type of care that you need at the Women’s Clinic.

“We pretty much provide everything except for abortion services,” Wood said. “We do preventative care, [such as] Pap testing, and women’s wellness exams, which usually includes breast exams and pelvic exams.

We also provide contraception, and we also do pregnancy testing and counseling. Our clinic also has an obstetric component, so we do have pregnant women who come to our clinic for prenatal care, and they deliver their babies at the University of Washington Medical Center.”

Additionally, if any issues come up, there is a Women’s Health consulting nurse available by phone on weekdays.

The number is (206)221-2491.

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However, the Women’s Clinic will help more than just people who identify as female.

“Not only women need this type of care,” Atwater said. “[We serve] trans men, anyone who has a vagina and a uterus.”

“Any ovary-bodied person, we can care for them,” Wood added.

Reach writer Cristen Jansson at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @cristenjansson

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By Alyson Podesta

Find your yoga happy place The first years of my yoga practice were comprised mainly of classes at my gym, in rooms cluttered with exercise equipment and post-treadmill bodies. These classes were great, especially considering that the majority of a beginning yogi’s first classes are spent trying to keep in sync with the class and pair names with postures.

Nowadays, yoga is more personal and intimate to me. I’ve discovered that the environment in which I practice yoga has become important. As it is for many people, I use yoga as a personal solace; while studies and stress continue to take up more of my time, it’s become increasingly important that I practice in spaces that are conducive to presence. Luckily, Seattle has no shortage of wonderful studios. The following are a sample of yoga studios in the U-District.

This is not intended to review these studios in a critical manner, much less to pit them against each other. Personally, I enjoyed classes at each of these studios, for different reasons. Yoga is personal, and judgement runs in counter to its teachings.

Also, these are definitely not the only yoga studios near campus. There are many other great options in the U-District and nearby neighborhoods. Read on to learn a bit about my experience at three unique studios. I encourage you to try them all at some point and see how they make you feel.

We Yoga Co.

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The first studio I tried, during my freshman year at the UW, was We Yoga Co. This was a challenging and invigorating heated vinyasa class taught by an encouraging instructor.

The atmosphere there is positive; I found it

quite easy to focus internally, as I focused intently on the more difficult postures.

This studio has big windows, which create a feeling of openness that applies to the general positive and open vibe of their classes.

Their location on Roosevelt Way Northeast and Northeast 45th Street is also less than a block away from a bus stop where many buses that run on Northeast 45th Street stop. Consider trying We Yoga Co. if you’re beginning to venture into hot yoga.

Friendly instructors can make even the most challenging classes less scary.

very clean and light. While this style of yoga certainly deviates from traditional yogic practice, it definitely can appeal to those who find that sweating a bit helps them to feel happier and more relaxed.

District Yoga

CorePower Yoga

Photos by Anne Chien I first discovered the CorePower Yoga studio chain through Classpass (which is a great option for those looking to try out multiple studios without breaking the bank, by the way). Their classes, as their name suggests, are focused toward strength and are based on a more circuit-style vinyasa. Their location on 12th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 45th Street is convenient for most U-District dwellers. It’s a short walk from campus, and many bus lines run down Northeast 45th Street, if you’re a bit farther away.

CorePower also certainly appeals to a younger crowd, which suits their trendier atmosphere. This makes sense as they are corporate and, thus, are a little less individual than some studios. The class I attended was comprised almost entirely of college students. Their space felt almost like a spa:

District Yoga is likely familiar to students interested in yoga. With their convenient location on The Ave, you’ve definitely walked by their cozy studio. I attended a Sunday evening class here, and their whole space was calm, dimly lit, and quiet. The studio itself does have a window on one side, so it can be assumed that natural lighting has an effect on the studio during the day. The practice space was a long, rectangular room, with space to spread out with a smaller class size. The studio was dark, save for some string lights that were hung up.

District Yoga is definitely one of the homier studios I’ve taken classes in; it feels comfortable and soft. This atmosphere, combined with their $10 student drop-in classes, make this studio appealing for students looking to relieve stress. They offer a wide variety of classes, including several Bikram options.

(Since this article has been written, it has been announced that District Yoga will be closing.)

Reach Special Sections Editor Alyson Podesta at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @alyson_podesta 17

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Photo Essay by Molly Duttry

Ocean Trip

A day playing at the beach are the best complements to a busy life.

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Sometimes, a change of perspective is all it takes for one to feel a little happier.

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By Zoe Shadan

Work hard, play harder In a culture of binge drinking and casual drug use, addictive behaviors aren’t something to ignore College is more than classes. It’s advertised to us as an experience filled with relationships, self-discovery, responsibility, failure, and experimentation. Modern students’ expectations for college go widely beyond academia and greatly embrace the knowledge we acquire outside of the classroom. In other words, we apply what we learn in class to our everyday lives and incorporate what our everyday experiences into our academic interests.

So what does this experience entail? New friends and exciting experiences: parties, drug exploration, and definitely a new level of alcohol consumption. For some, it will be late night library sessions and internships.

For many, it will be all of these. But as much as we want to control our habits, good or bad, and as much as we believe that we understand what we are doing to ourselves when we stay up late and wake up early or when we are putting toxic substances into our bodies for a “good time, and a good time only,” we don’t have as much control over our bodies’ physical and mental reactions to these habits as we claim to. This false belief is based on our mental maturity and our social contexts.

Understanding addiction

Dr. Jason Kilmer, associate professor of psychiatry at the UW, explains the “biopsychosocial” model of addiction, which recognizes the contributions of physiological, biological, genetic, psychological, social, and environmental domains in influencing addictive behaviors.

Addressing the issue of the “addictive gene,” which many of us have heard about, Kilmer theorizes that our genes don’t define our fate for addiction.

“The main thing we say is that genetics are by no means a person’s destiny,” Kilmer said.

Kilmer also addresses, however, that those 20

with a family history of addiction are at a higher risk of substance addiction themselves.

Of course, a person without a family history of addiction is still capable of developing an addiction. All in all, more goes into our addictive nature than just our genetics; rather, it’s our entire biopsychosocial sphere that helps dictate our paths to potential substance dependency.

Some things to look out for, suggested by Kilmer for when concerns grow regarding substance dependency and potential addiction, are tolerance like someone being able to “hold their liquor,” continuing substance use despite its negative impacts on the person’s personal relationships or schoolwork, and withdrawal symptoms when a substance has not been used recently.

At 12 years old, Patricia Atwater, the now director of health promotion at the UW, started smoking. It wasn’t until her 20s that she quit after many attempts. What worked for her?

Nicotine patch therapy. The 24-hour patch was her ride out of the addiction and now she is here at the UW, helping facilitate Tobacco Talk, as a resource for students looking to talk to someone about their own addiction, whether it’s to cut back smoking or to quit altogether.

Atwater explained that it takes, on average, seven attempts before someone successfully quits smoking. This habit is the number one leading cause of preventable deaths and disease, a statistic strongly emphasized not only by Atwater but also by Sarah Ross-Viles, director of the Tobacco Studies Program at the UW, and Jacob Delbridge, student officer for the Tobacco Action Group.

“Ironically, people who smoke cigarettes use cigarettes as a way to care for themselves,” Atwater said. “They are literally giving themselves a break when they smoke cigarettes.”

Illustrations by Anni Hong There is a tobacco epidemic, despite the campaigns against the substance. Tobacco is an easily attainable and frequented drug. The intrigue is viable; from personal experience, I can account to the “cool factor” and overall appeal from the classic movies that portray a mysterious character lurking while puffing a cigarette, or the neon lights hanging on the silhouette of a camel figure advertising for the well-known cigarette company, Camel.

That feeling, the interest, and that desire to experiment is not unique, but it’s also not an accident.

Tobacco industries target youth. RossViles explained to me that between the ages of 18 and 21, a person’s “sometimes” habit of smoking cigarettes is most likely to become an “always” habit. Building off of this, Atwater stated that only after the age of 26 are young adults less susceptible to addiction because their brains have just finished developing. Psychologically speaking, our personal identities are also still developing form our adolescence to our adulthood, being influenced by social norms for our given age groups, social clocks, and cultural timetables for certain events in our lives, embedded in our social and cultural

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contexts. In adolescence, we build the idea of “us” and being surrounded by the normalization of substance use like “social smoking” can make its way to our habits into young adulthood.

Tobacco industries also target already marginalized groups.

“For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted more vulnerable communities such as communities of color, LGBTQIA+, youth, and low socioeconomic communities,” Delbridge said. “We have the responsibilities as a university, as a state, and as a society to provide support and services to students and their communities.”

According to Atwater, tobacco use and other substance abuse is not just a stress-induced issue. There’s almost always an underlying issue, both other substance use, like other drugs and alcohol, and mental health issues.

These mental health issues are raised in personal livelihoods as well as public livelihoods evident in the marginalization of certain groups as discussed above.

Beyond tobacco grows a concern for the use of and outlook on marijuana use. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, marijuana is one of the most commonly used illicit drugs in the United States with, based on a study conducted in 2015, over 11 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 having used marijuana in the past year.

While its physical harms and addictiveness are not as severe as alcohol, meth, heroin, or other drugs, marijuana still carries hazards including memory loss, anxiety, impaired body movement, respiratory infections, impaired brain development, and more.

Based on the studies of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Study by DA Rieger, substance abuse is nearly twice as prevalent among adults struggling with psychological distress or major depressive episodes, and an estimate of over half of U.S. individuals with drug disorders (excluding alcohol) also have mental disorders.

“I was trying not to kill myself.”

This is applicable to all substance abuse, though. The impact of mental wellbeing cannot be subjected to the vulnerability of a single drug. It is an issue that has not been supportively and effectively fought as a society, as a community, and therefore has been a problem “resolved” by a toxic solution for many.

“Drinking more was not solving anything, but I couldn’t stop,” John, an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) volunteer and the chair of the local public information committee said. “I thought I was treating alcoholism with alcohol.”

For John, it wasn’t until the age of 35 that he took his first step to ending his addiction and beginning recovery. He was a chronic alcoholic, battling the addiction that got a start at the age of five. This habit led John to drop out of the ninth grade and eventually, as an adult with a family, have strong thoughts of suicide.

What got him to find help, to try out AA, was sheer desperation.

“I was trying to survive,” John said. “I was trying not to kill myself.”

Drinking in college is merely a social frequency. What is concerning, however, is that social drinking in college can turn into an addiction.

“People can and do get addicted in college,” Dr. Kilmer said. “About one in five college students meets past year criteria for an alcohol use disorder, so this is something people should be mindful of if they notice their use of a substance escalating.”

Student voices

On a casual afternoon in the HUB, I set out to ask a variety of students what their thoughts were on drinking and binge-drinking in college.

Reactions were scattered.

Some students chose not to answer the questions, others were willing to answer and showed they were unfazed by the frequency of drinking that they noticed when they started college, and a few were more hesitant in verbalizing their lack of participation in and support of drinking in college, particularly when underage.

Multiple students, however, had similar thoughts acknowledging the commonality of drinking in college. Student Maya Gopalan stated that it’s “a part of the culture,” while also expressing that moderation of alcohol consumption could make it a safer activity.

“It’s fine,” student Kelsey Plimpton said.

“It’s your choice.”

Plimpton was not the only student to express casual feelings towards the topic.

Student Fletcher Moore, whose 21st birthday happened to be the day I asked him these two questions, said that it was a form of self-expression that can happen “as long as they’re doing it in a responsible way.”

However, students like Atalie Allen and Tim Lantin propose that, while they hear about drinking on the weekends and parties from other people, students should consider waiting until the legal age to drink or find another cathartic outlet, another way to let loose.

“Isn’t just getting buzzed okay?” Lantin said, bringing up the lack of moderation in a culture of binge drinking.

Students like Moore expressed that college is a popular time for binge drinking and experimentation.

Graduate student Heather Shen feels that students’ experimentation will hopefully result in them finding what works for their life and discovering their niche, but most students were generally against binge drinking, due to its unhealthy effects on our bodies and negative influences on our decisions.

The concern with addictive behaviors goes beyond the physical use and abuse of substances such as binge drinking. There is a cultural and social need for the de-stigmatization of people who use alcohol and/or drugs. While I specifically address the effects of tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol, there are many other drugs implicating harmful habits on people vulnerable to substance abuse.

What can be done

Looking at my scattered notes covering the topics of stigma and signs and recovery and resources trying to keep up with people all around our campus and our city who are passionate about wellbeing. All of it is valuable, important information, but I can’t help Read the rest of this piece on page 26 21

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By Vidhi Singh

Keeping up You’re not the only one stressing out

Sometimes you need to fall down that spiral to hit the core of the problem.

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Grades. GPA. Midterms. “The curve.” Average.

These words send a shiver down the spine of most UW students. With notoriously mammoth-sized introductory courses in subjects such as physics, psychology, computer science, and chemistry, students feel overwhelmed about their grades, majors, and futures.

As a globally ranked university, UW has many high-achieving and competitive students that help make it an acclaimed institution.

A recent U.S. News & World Report ranked the UW 10th in global universities, which made it second among public universities in the United States. While such prestigious standings further verify the high quality of UW programs, it also highlights the level of proficiency it demands.

“This [UW] is a very competitive institution.

UW students are very mindful of their academic performance to do well,” said Meghann Gerber, a clinical psychologist and associate director for mental health at Hall Health Center.

Hall Health sees students for many issues, such as depression, grief and loss, identity, anxiety, and stress. The Seattle Times released an article last year that criticized the competitiveness within engineering admissions at the UW. “When mental health issues start to interfere with academic performance, students come in,” Gerber said. “It is clearly true that the more stress we apply to a person, the more resources they use to handle that stress and fewer they have for their daily life.”

Stress contributes to mental disorders

such as anxiety and depression, which can interfere with academic performance. Stress is brought not only from the constraints of the quarter system, but also the effortless, successful look that many students carry around campus.

If you have ever asked yourself, “How is it that I am the only one who’s struggling here?” then you have been deceived by a facade that many students at competitive universities have mastered. “Everyone around them looks like they’re doing it so well,” Gerber said.

Stanford University calls it “Duck Syndrome” and described it as when “everyone on campus appears to be gliding effortlessly across this Lake College. But below the surface, our little duck feet are paddling furiously, working our feathered little tails off.”

Sadly, this dichotomy of outside appearances and internal mayhem is perpetuated beyond college. Society sets up rigid constraints for success, which include displaying a seemingly effortless trajectory toward the achievement of professional goals.

A New York Times article explained how successful individuals display three characteristics: a “superiority complex,” insecurities, and impulse control. Competition is not just about who can accomplish the most, but also how naturally they do so.

“We do not talk about emotional wellbeing, and how our emotions fluctuate and affect our ability to do well,” Gerber said. “What ends up happening is that we feel that it is only me.”

Most students at some point in their ac-

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Elijah Pasco ademic experience will hear the phrase, “work smart, not hard.” Why is hard work sometimes not enough? It is important to understand how to work efficiently, but hard work also teaches valuable lessons.

However, within a ten-week quarter system, as that of the UW, many times students have to simply rely on efficiency if they are taking a demanding workload.

“I certainly think that the quarter system applies a lot of pressure in a short period of time,” Gerber said. “When you start having problems that interfere with your success, you do not have that much time to correct them.”

The quarter system is an intense race, start to finish. With a slow start for the first couple of weeks, the later part is a whirlwind of midterms, essays, and panic of final grades. But if this was not enough, the uncertainty of a declared major adds another layer of anxiety.

“There is no question that the applying for a major is a huge stressor,” Gerber emphasized.

“It can be stressful to try to come up with this type of [major] plan right away before enough information can be investigated, gathered, sorted out and reflected upon to inform a multidimensional academic plan for the freshman and sophomore year,” said Christina Kerr, lead academic adviser at undergraduate advising. “This combined with all else a college student balances can certainly contribute to anxiety and stress.”

Nonetheless, the university is attempting to address the academic stress among students by creating new resilience courses, expanding counseling opportunities, and providing undergraduate advising at Mary Gates Hall.

But sometimes academic stress is enforced because students actually deprive themselves of the ability to deal with it in a healthy manner. Some of the primary necessities for emotional well-being are more than eight hours of sleep, a healthy diet, and good physical health. These are the first things to go when academics and stress become too overwhelming.

“For freshman students arriving on a big campus, settling into a new living situation away from home, taking college-level courses that are structured very unlike high school classes, and basically starting back at the academic gate can, in combination, contribute to distress especially if there are other facets of life that are impacting a student’s well-being or arrive on campus with significant stress,” Kerr explained.

However, even after a couple of years on campus, students still feel the full weight of academic challenges.

“Students’ identities get so closely wrapped with academic stress, and if that gets bad then students question who they are anymore,” Gerber said.

There is an urgency in the academic world to get things done in a timely manner, which also holds true for obtaining help when you

know you need it. The biggest hurdle in the path to help is, simply, the stigma behind mental health. Students tell themselves, “If I work harder, I’ll get through this” or “I can tough it.” Sometimes this mentality works out, and other times people fall down a spiral.

Sometimes you need to fall down that spiral to hit the core of the problem.

“Breaking perfectionism through failing and blowing it big time is important because you learn a lot about yourself,” Gerber said.

After such an experience, students will realize that they are okay because a “bad grade” cannot define a person. Academics are only a part of the college experience, and there is much more to excel at.

“Talk to somebody, reach out and engage.

And finding your college path takes time, so be kind to yourself because you are not behind by not knowing,” Kerr said. “We are right next to yourself getting there step by step.”

Both the mental health center at Hall Health and undergraduate advising are there to help students.

In the meantime, start by asking a simple question: “Are you doing something that makes you feel good about yourself?”

Reach writer Vidhi Singh at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @vidhisvida

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By Samantha Bushman

Some friends shouldn’t be forever How I learned to remove myself from unhealthy relationships A lot of people have bad friends, but a healthy friendship, like any other relationship, should be symbiotic and mutually beneficial. Those who threaten your well-being don’t deserve to be a part of your life, period.

first drunk texts I have ever sent, I was bombarded with complaints and a lot of cyber bullying. I received side eyes, and my best friend, who I have known since preschool, routinely made fun of me. I found myself under scrutiny from those closest to me.

Unhealthy relationships have plagued me for as long as I can remember. They’ve manifested themselves in my family, with significant others, but most commonly, in the friends that I have chosen.

Admittedly, I made a lot of mistakes trying to find myself in high school, but nothing that warranted an intervention in my own backyard.

Friendships can be just as abusive as romantic relationships. Too often, I have dismissed emotionally abusive behavior in favor of keeping the company of people I’m already comfortable with. Although these relationships may be familiar, I’ve learned that this doesn’t mean they have to be in my life forever.

As I grew up at a different pace than my friends, many of my friendships lacked much-needed support. In response to the

For months, my friends had been skirting around group activities. They avoided confrontation, but the bullying began to die down. We got together and planned to hang out just because it had been too long.

Instead, they had been secretly planning an intervention. After a home-cooked meal made by my mom, they sat me down.

“You’re not the Sam we know,” they stated, as a bonfire crackled in my backyard.

“We want the awkward girl back.”

By Aleenah Ansari

Think about why your work is worth it Achieving balance as an engineering student, tutor, and writer I don’t use a planner. As a result, I’m constantly running through the list of things I need to finish by the end of the day. If you ever see me, lost in thought as I make a beeline for the library, the following is probably running through my head: “Okay, go to work at 9 a.m. at the Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC), take headshots for my friend’s RSO, double check my presentation notes before class and add discussion questions, apply for that Spotify internship, and get home in 24

time to finish all of the homework I’ve been assigned in the last week.”

I’ve never been good at doing just one thing. This is why I identify as a Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) student, writing tutor, peer mentor, and friend who tries to be a cheerleader for everyone in my life. At the end of the day, I do all these things because I am incredibly passionate about my work. My jobs allow me to be a storyteller, educator, and writer across organizations, but it can be really

Aurora San Miguel One by one they went around the circle and told me how I had changed and how they wanted to help me regain who I used to be. It felt like none of them understood that the issue was not that I had changed, but that I was growing up.

Growth is natural; growth is good. Although I knew this, and that my friends hindered my growth, at least they were willing to talk to me for the first time in months. So, I forgave them. At the time I didn’t have much of a community past them,

difficult to slow down.

Because of everything I had on my plate, I wasn’t taking a healthy amount time to reflect on my decisions and long-term career goals, or even to regularly meet up with the most important people in my life.

Wellness has always been an important concept to me, and not just because I was an editor for The Daily’s Wellness section for over a year. I’m trying to find ways to actually be well and embody the rhetoric of self-care that I want to tell others, even as I fill up my time with schoolwork and personal projects. As my brother has reminded me my whole life, it’s important to make time for fun. Although this seems counterintuitive to my work ethic as a hustler, I want to think critically about how I can take care of my body and mind. I search for things that are life-giving, activities that make me a better version of myself. For me, this comes through personal reflective writing outside of LinkedIn articles or journalism stories and even just coffee dates with old friends where we don’t bring our backpacks or homework.

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and so I let their mistakes fly so I could have that community back. Until I graduated, and even beyond, it was more of the same.

As a result of my experiences in high school, it’s hard for me to accept that when I meet new people, they want to get to know me for me.

I have a hard time recognizing sincerity, and even a worse time being myself.

Even now in college, I’m finding that some of the people who helped me see the good in others for the first time are, in fact, only temporary in my life. Some people hinder us not because they are inherently abusive, but because they are unable (or unwilling) to understand that everyone grows at different paces.

Moving away from home taught me so much about myself and made me question and explore these unhealthy relationships on a level that I never thought I was capable of.

Bad friendships taught me the importance of communication. In any relationship, you must be clear of your intentions and expectations.

I have also come to understand the value in standing up for myself.

These are simple concepts in theory, but difficult in practice. For a long time, I blamed myself for what I went through growing up. I used to see no way of finding another community and continued to struggle with who I am because for years, I had let that be questioned.

To combat the lingering effects of my experience, I joined a sorority, began writing for the Daily, started my own RSO, and have wholeheartedly embraced those who contribute positively to my growth.

This isn’t to say that all old friendships are toxic. Emma sends me postcards from Ireland; Courtney and Morea listen as I drone on about my new sorority, and Ava from preschool reminds me constantly that not all old friends deserve to be cut out of your life.

In return, I hope I can give them my support and help them understand that what I experienced isn’t okay.

You should never feel like you have to stay friends with people who don’t help you grow.

It’s okay to leave people behind.

Understanding how emotional abuse affected me was hard because it had occurred on a psychological level, subtly, over a long period of time.

It’s hard to cut off people who have woven their way into your life, even if they’re detrimental to your mental health; but building a new relationship can be a lot better than trying to fix an unhealthy one.

Reach writer Samantha Bushman at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @sammi_bushman

Now, I try to block out time for photoshoots of murals in Capitol Hill or visits to new ice cream places in the Central District. I’ve found ways to do things that I consider to be life-giving, whether it’s taking a writing class or attending at least one concert per quarter. By taking this time for myself, I feel prepared to jump back into work with full force. Without these healing activities, life can be draining. I’ve found that it is curative (and necessary) to give myself the time and space to answer to my needs.

Publisher Diana Kramer dianakramer@dailyuw.com Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Gross editor@dailyuw.com Advertising Manager Lacas Cairns Ramin Farrokhi ads@dailyuw.com Special Sections Editor Alyson Podesta specials@dailyuw.com Wellness Editor Mira Petrillo Science Editor Timothy Kenney Copy Chiefs Monalice Choi Kellyn Grassel Photo Editors Case Tanaka Danial Kim Design Editor Monica Niehaus Illustration Editor Andrew Estey Cover Illustration Anni Hong

The Daily is the student-run newspaper at the University of Washington published Monday and Thursday, and weekly during summer quarter. The Daily is partially supported by the Student Technology Fee and the Services and Activities Fee.

Amid everything on my schedule, I find moments to be grateful for the amazing people in my community who want to see me thrive, and the opportunities they give me to celebrate myself. So, regardless of how busy everything gets, I encourage you to take time for fun, even if that means stepping away from that long todo list. I hope you can find the balance you’re seeking.

Reach writer Aleenah Ansari at wellness@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @aleenah_ansari

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From ‘Work hard, play harder’ on page 20

By Ulrica Luo notice the number one thing making itself obvious to me: across the board, the most important advice I’ve heard is to talk to people when you need or want to get help.

“Talk to someone in recovery ... Ideally, talk to people that are enjoying recovery,” John said. “[Saying] ‘I don’t know what to do’ is a great way to start.”

This kind of communication brings about the personal stories of people that RossViles is motivated by. It will help peel back the layers that lie beneath alcohol use disorder, heavy smoking, and drug addiction so that the core of the problem can be nurtured.

“Start with a conversation about what the functions of smoking are in your life,” Atwater said. “What does smoking do for you, and what is it replacing?”

Delbridge encourages us to have compassion for those struggling with tobacco addiction, a gesture that can be applied to the other various forms of addiction so that the structural issue of addiction can be eradicated. As a collegiate community, we stand together to battle the difficult causes of and negative effects from substance addiction.

If you or someone you know is or might be struggling with substance addiction, you can get in contact with Quitline Washington, Hall Health, Tobacco Talk, and Alcoholics Anonymous Seattle to take further action is finding help and a solution.

Reach writer Zoe Shadan at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @zoeshadan

Visit https://www.youtube.com/ TheDaily for ‘Work hard, play harder’ video content.

An introduction to UW health resources Where to go for your wellness The UW is a huge campus with vast wellness resources, and yet, many UW students are unaware of many of them or are overwhelmed by too many choices.

“We’ve heard from a lot of students that this could be very challenging for students to navigate resources at the UW,” said Kiana Swearingen, training and communication specialist at Safecampus. “Students often don’t know who to talk to, who has the right information, [or] where to go when they need particular help and support.”

There is a huge gap between resources and students’ awareness of them. Student Well-Being Collaborative, however, is one group working on this gap.

“Student Well-Being Collaborative is a group that gathers many campus partners that are involved in student wellness, including Hall Health, SafeCampus, Health and Wellness, UW recreation, and many others,” Kaitlin Schreiber, Healthy Huskies assessment intern, said.

This group meets monthly to discuss how they can increase collaboration among wellness resources and how they can connect students with these resources to enhance student experiences as a whole.

“A key factor of the Collaborative is that there are very few times that all of these groups get to a room together,” Swearingen said. “So, the key part is simply building relations between staff and faculty, between departments, organizations at the UW who don’t get to talk to each other often.”

Healthy Huskies is involved with this group and makes sure the UW is committed to prioritizing holistic student wellbeing;

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in other words, helping all Huskies to be Healthy.

Healthy Huskies has funded Health and Wellness, which focuses on drug and alcohol use, student projects on sexual assaults, and UW Recreation for providing mindful practices for students during finals, and many others.

Healthy Husky Fest is also held every beginning of the school year to promote awareness of wellness resources around campus for students.

The future goals of the Student Well-Being Collaborative and Healthy Huskies are to consider building a unified website for all wellness resources to streamline communication as well as to enhance team building among each group.

The main message these representatives want to convey is that there is a very committed group on campus who really care about students’ experience at the UW. There is no wrong door to go to or wrong person to ask because faculty and staff are more and more equipped with knowledge of resources and can help connect you with a suitable resource.

For a detailed list of wellness resources on campus for a variety of needs, see our online e-edition.

Reach reporter Yiru Luo at specials@dailyuw.com.

Twitter: @YiruLuo

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