Mid-terms can be a high stress time for many students, perhaps contributing to increased tobacco use amongst those who smoke.  For those who are former smokers, this kind of stress can be a trigger point for returning to past habits. 

While relapse can be a reality when establishing any new healthier habit,  it should not be viewed as complete failure. It simply indicates a moment of “two steps forward, one step back” and provides the opportunity to recommit to your healthier habits. 

In a recent article, the Mayo Clinic shared a variety of suggestions on how to maintain your commitment to being smoke-free. These are as simple as being vigilant of situations that might trigger tobacco use to more concrete reminders of how costly smoking can be as a habit, with cigarette prices at $5 per pack. 

Read the full article here to find a few suggestions that could work for you. 

Wesleyan Resources: 

Health Services’ Smoking Cessation Resources

WesWELL Tobacco Education Resources

photo credit: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The perception is that 20-somethings are youthful and robust, in the peak of their health.

But a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that young adults have their fair share of health woes.

A third of 18- to 29-year-olds, a demographic the insurance industry calls “young invincibles,” are cigarette smokers. A quarter are obese, as the rates among young adults have tripled in the past three decades. Nearly two-thirds of young adults reported not having regular leisure-time physical activity.

“At that age, people tend to be healthy but take it for granted,” said Dr. Jennifer Shu, CNNhealth’s Living Well expert. “Diabetes and heart disease start at much earlier ages now. The obesity and cigarettes can impact how young you might be when you get a serious illness.”

And when young adults get seriously ill, they can find themselves in a bind: A third of people ages 20 to 24 are uninsured. They are too old to qualify for their parents’ insurance, looking for work or in a job that doesn’t provide health insurance.

read full article…

Wesleyan Resources: Health Services offers Wesleyan students health care for illness, injury and well visits and coordinates the university’s student insurance plan. Call 860.685.2470 with questions.

We can post it here on the WesWELL blog for you!

At least three days before your event, email the following information to Lisa Currie (lcurrie@wes): 

• Name of your Event
• Day and Date
• Start and End Time 
• Location
• Admission charge, if any
• Is this a Wesleyan-only event or can anyone attend? (We will assume Wesleyan-only, unless you say otherwise)
• A detailed description of your event. If it is a speaker, you may wish to include a biography or link to their website, if available. 
• Photos or clip art to illustrate the post are accepted , too, but please keep them tasteful (we reserve the right to not use submitted images). 
• Contact person/information, in case someone has a question

It’s that easy!

STUDENT-RUN
GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP
(Sponsored by the Office of Behavioral Health for Students)

MEETS:   Tuesdays
TIME:   8:00 p.m.
LOCATION:   Group Room #212
(2nd fl., Davison Health Center)

Intended to create a network of support for
those who have experienced the death of a loved one.  
Please feel free to come and leave when it’s convenient for you.  
If you have questions, please contact: Margo (917/691-7312).

Scientific American recently ran a ” 60 Second Psych” podcast about cyberchondria, the obsessive fear that can arise from using “Dr. Google” to diagnose your illness from a few simple symptoms. Click here to check it out.

An alternate tool available to the Wesleyan community is the Self Care Guide. This guide was developed by the American Institute for Preventative Medicine and allows you to use logic trees to determine what is the best course of action based on your symptoms.  It can be found on both the Health Services and WesWELL websites; look for the Self Care Guide link.

If you are interested in having the WesWELL staff member or a Peer Health Advocate present a health education workshop for your group or living area, it’s simple to request it.

Just go to www.wesleyan.edu/weswell and click on Request a Program. 

The online form will ask you for all the information we need to speed along scheduling your program request and help us both avoid exchanging endless rounds of emails or voice-mails. It’s that simple!

The WesWELL Resource Library, located in Room 204 of the Davison Health Center, houses a collection of books, journals, periodicals, brochures, and videos on various health and wellness issues. Our stock of free safer sex supplies is also located in the same room. 

Many students access the Resource Library for personal information, research for a project, or to help a friend or family member.  Residence Life student staff may want to pick up ready-made “Bulletin Boards in a Bag”, the well-known brown paper “condom bags”, or even health-oriented posters for bulletin boards. A copier is available for making small quantities of copies of materials for personal use or for posting in your living area.

To search our online catalog of our books and videos, click here. Or from the main page of the Olin Library website, click on Departmental Collections, then WesWELL.  

The Library is open the same hours as Health Services, although WesWELL staff members are typically not present during evening and weekend hours. If you have a question, contact the staff at 860.685.2466 or by email at weswell@wesleyan.edu.

Click on FYI in the Categories list to view other informational posts about WesWELL’s services and offerings.

The Davison Health Center, pictured above during a snowy March day, is home to three separate but related health offices. Functioning as three parts of a whole, these offices offer “one stop shopping” for the health needs of Wesleyan students.  All three offices are located in the Davison Health Center, 327 High Street, adjacent to the CFA Theater and Malcolm X House.

The three offices are:

WesWELL, the Office of Health Education focuses on prevention education on health issues, including this blog. You are likely to meet our health educator, Lisa Currie, and the Peer Health Advocates, a student peer education group, in your residential living area or elsewhere on campus offering workshops and discussions on a variety of health issues. Look for our annual Sexual Health Expo each spring, too! We also offer non-credit classes in yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Kung Fu and more. You are also welcome to drop in the office to visit our Resource Library, pick up free safer sex supplies, or ask a question to help yourself or a friend.  The office is located on the second floor of the Davison Health Center.

Web www.wesleyan.edu/weswell
Phone 860.685.2466 
Email weswell@wesleyan.edu or lcurrie@wesleyan.edu

Health Services provides confidential medical care for illness, injury, sexual health, travel consults, allergy, and more. All visits are included in your Wesleyan student fees, though there can be charges for lab tests and such. Led by medical director Dr. Davis Smith, and administrative director Joyce Walter, the large staff of Health Services can serve as your primary care provider while you are at Wesleyan and also work with your doctor at home as needed. Appointments are strongly encouraged, though walk-ins for urgent needs will be accommodated. Call Health Services at 860.685.2470 for an appointment or with your questions.

Web: www.wesleyan.edu/healthservices
Phone: 860.685.2470
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:00am to 7:00pm; Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm; Saturday, 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Note: An on-call physician is available after hours when classes are in session by calling 860.685.2470 and selecting option 2.

The Office of Behavioral Health for Students (OBHS) provides confidential mental and emotional health support in individual and group settings. The office exists expressly to help Wesleyan students (undergraduate and graduate) to deal effectively with emotional, personal, interpersonal and situational issues which cause unhappiness, frustration and/or disruption to their lives.  Call 860.685.2910 for an appointment.

Web: www.wesleyan.edu/obhs
Phone: 860.685.2910
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 4:30pm
Note: An on-call therapist is available after hours when classes are in session by calling 860.685.2910 and following the prompts.

Over the course of the semester, we’ll be creating a series of FYI posts. They will highlight various services and resources available through WesWELL, and to a lesser extent, through Health Services and the Office of Behavioral Health. Look for the first one shortly!

If you have a suggestion for something yo’ud like to know more about (or a question that you don’t want to leave in the comments), don’t hesitate to contact Lisa Currie, Director of Health Education at lcurrie@wesleyan.edu or 860.685.2466.

Click here: Fast and Easy HIV Testing

Health Services offers testing services for Wesleyan students at low and reasonable costs.