Getting Out of a College Funk

By Timothy Hayes on August 14, 2015

You haven’t left your dorm in 5 days. Your roommates are looking at you in worry. You smell awful and really haven’t done anything besides browse social media, watch Netflix, and order pizza. Your friends are getting worried about you and you haven’t gone out in more than two weeks.

Congratulations, you are in a college funk.

(image courtesy of www.geekandsundry.com)

A funk is essentially a time when you’re going into a semi-depressed state. Many people have fallen into these before and the bottom of this curve looks very bleak indeed. The problem with these times is that you have neither the energy nor the desire to beat these.

They can creep up on you and take you by surprise. It might start out with sleeping in late, staying up too late, or just coming back to your apartment or dorm, too tired to cook so you order out instead. These little steps eventually lead to the mess you’re in now.

Scientifically, these have an actual name — psychologists label them Major-Depressive Episodes. These are periods of usually two weeks where the person will suffer symptoms of major depression at least temporarily.

These can be severe problems or passing issues that resolve themselves. When they don’t, they can develop into actual serious mental disorders and will begin to have serious consequences on your life. For this reason, it is imperative that students know how to recognize this problem and deal with it accordingly.

The first step of getting out of this is to realize that you need help. Most people in a funk will recognize it and have no trouble knowing something’s wrong. The problem is most frequently that they don’t know how to ask for help, how to get help, or that they even need help. Many think they can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get out of the problem themselves — this is not really true.

The biggest problem with these episodes is that it makes asking for help difficult. The reality of the situation is that you are incapacitated by this and you cannot help yourself. So it’s time to ask for help.

This can be pretty simple. Just let someone know exactly how you’re feeling. Maybe you’re in this funk because you’re too exhausted by school. Maybe the problem is that you’re having trouble with a relationship. Knowing the source of the problem will help you fix your problem and get you active and moving again.

So once you know the problem, reach out and tell someone about it. It could be your roommate, your best friend, or your mom. Let them know what’s going on so they can help you. Send out a general SOS to everyone asking them to talk, hang out, and even share in the misery that’s getting you down.

Your next step should be to get active again. You’ve probably been sitting around for quite some time now and the only thing that’s been getting you moving has probably been food or the bathroom. With this mass dose of sloth, your body will settle into a sedentary lifestyle that can severely affect your health, slowing down your metabolism and eating away at your fitness.

You’ve probably also been eating very poorly so that is not going to help your health either. It’s time now to get moving and get active. Exercise and physical activity are excellent for this kind of problem as they help release endorphins into your body to make you feel good again. This can just be getting outside in the sunshine to take a walk or maybe dancing. Whatever activity, do it and bring a friend to keep you at it.

You should also remember to get back in touch with friends and family if you’ve fallen into this state. Intimate physical or social contact can help people out tremendously. The release of dopamine in positive social interactions can add a definite boost to your mood and cause you to come out of your cave again and keep you out of there. Go out and see a movie with a friend. Go to the park. Have dinner with your family if you can. Have a game night with friends. Whatever you do, do it with the people who care for you.

(image via www.examiner.com)

One thing that should not be done at all during this time is consuming alcohol. Alcohol, while a wonderful invention of human ingenuity and a blessing to all, is a depressant. This means that through heavy use, your brain will adjust to alcohol and make it so that it is very hard to stop depending on alcohol.

It can affect your mental state primarily, but repeated abuse such as that which comes from dependence will result in physical symptoms of addiction such as cirrhosis of the liver. Turning to alcohol is not the answer, even in a social setting. Drink responsibly.

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