By Dr. Sarah Khan, resident pharmacist for DietsInReview.com

College can be some of the best times of your life: the parties, dating, making new friends and having more independence. You’re an adult now, and I’m sure you were hoping you would leave behind those embarrassing zits from high school, but for some, the added stress can keep you from clear skin. Many college kids are turning to a popular treatment system called Proactiv, but does it work?

Why am I breaking out?

So you’re finished with puberty…doesn’t that mean you are done with acne too? Unfortunately, no. There are many triggers that can make pimples much more prevalent. Oil-based cosmetics, and beauty products are a culprit for blemishes along with dirt, cooking oils in the air, prescription drugs like steroids, and hormonal changes.

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In a survey conducted of over 200,000 students entering four year colleges, it has been found that the emotional health level of freshmen is at its lowest level in 25 years.

Students are depressed and under stress with some of them using psychiatric medication. More students arrive on campus with problems and are in need of support. Students worry about the debt they are accruing while in college and if they will be able to find a job after graduating and it is causing a lot of additional stress for them.

During this survey students were asked to rate their own emotional health and the emotional health of others. While many students rated their own emotional health below average, it was more difficult for them to gauge the emotional health of others.

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College freshman are experiencing more mental health problems than ever, according to a study conducted at UCLA‘s Higher Education Research Institute.

“More students are arriving on campus with problems, needing support, and today’s economic factors are putting a lot of extra stress on college students, as they look at their loans and wonder if there will be a career waiting for them on the other side.” said Brian Van Brunt, director of counseling at Western Kentucky University and president of the American College Counseling Association.

“The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010” surveyed over 200,000  full-time freshman students at four-year colleges and found that a significant percentage of students rated their mental  health as “below average.” Additionally, merely 52 percent of  students said their emotional health was above average. In 1985, it was 64 percent.

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I have two dogs: a pug and a miniature pinscher. Nothing seems to cheer me up more than when I come home from school, or work, and find them excitedly awaiting my presence. They wag their tails and immediately beg for my a attention. Something about the way they lick my chin and demand to be petted makes me forget about all of the day’s stressors.

So, it’s no surprise to me that Tufts University is using dogs to ease exam woes on campus. The school brought in therapy dogs on Tuesday for students to have some stress-free time, amid the most stressful time of year: finals week.

“Every college student has stress around finals,” said resident director Michael Bliss, who came up with the idea of dog visits. “And taking a break out from that with something as easy and simple and loving as petting dogs is really helpful.”

Tufts University isn’t the only school using therapy dogs as stress-relieving activities. Bliss wanted to bring the dogs to campus after he participated in a similar program as an undergraduate at New York University.

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The causes of acne are numerous, but one crucial factor seems to be stress. Keep in mind that it is that time of year. As important as it is to travel safely during the holidays, it’s equally important to limit your stress. Despite your best efforts to de-stress, you may find yourself staring at Mt. Vesuvius on your chin. How in the world do you fix this? Stop stressing over finals, or work or whatever else it is that gets you going. Stress increases hormones in your body that cause an overproduction of oil, slow the healing process and increase inflammation. All the magical tips in the world won’t be a cure if you don’t eliminate the cause. Here are a couple tips for coping with your breakouts in the meantime:

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From childhood to senior year and beyond, students are facing an enormous amount of pressure to be over-achievers. The alarmingly high expectations come in from all angles: parents, teachers, coaches and school officials are weighing down hard on kids and some are afraid that they just can’t take the stress. Vicki Abeles, rookie film-maker and mother to a 12-year old with stress induced stomachaches, decided it’s time to acknowledge the corner we’re backing ourselves into.

We all want our young children to succeed, but round-the-clock activities and no down time is producing highly-stressed individuals. We simply cannot expect the next generation to be any closer to super-human than we are.

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It won’t be long until finals week, and if your grades are borderline, you’re probably ready to pull out you hair. “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” sang it best with the song “Relax.” Stress can cloud your thinking and bring on test anxiety.

Read these tips on how to relax, reduce stress and maximize the quality of your study time:

Cramming is a no-no: We’ve all done it. It’s no surprise that a busy college schedule caused you to cram several chapters of information into your brain within hours before the test. But if you want to avoid stress, don’t wait until the last minute. Study about an hour a night for three nights. If you know it’s going to be a comprehensive final, try studying an hour and a half each night. If you cram for a test, you will likely feel like you don’t truly know the material, which can bring on test anxiety, but if you study several nights in a row you will feel confident about your final.

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A recent study found that half of the teens who were successfully treated for depression have a relapse within five years of recovery. What is causing young people to continuously experience major depression? The majority of the subjects who relapsed were female and it could be because young women in their teens and twenties have a tendency to harbor negative feelings. More studies need to be done before any real conclusion is obtained because depression is a complicated issue. It’s causes are intertwined in genetics, personality and circumstance.

Depression comes in many forms and it’s vital to understand that being depressed doesn’t mean that something is wrong with you. Keep in mind that it’s nearly winter and ’tis the season also means that Seasonal Affective Disorder is ready to rear its head again. Shorter days mean lack of sunlight, which can contribute to depression for a lot of people. Read the rest of this entry »

A new study finds that more than half of med students experience burnout, which in turn leads them to engage in unprofessional behaviors when working with patients. The study was conducted by the Mayo Clinic and published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study found that stressed-out med students were unlikely to engage in academic dishonesty, but were prone to take short-cuts in patient care. “Although students recognize cheating and dishonest clinical behaviors as unprofessional, feel guilty about engaging in these behaviors and believe that the behaviors make them a less trustworthy physician, a relatively high prevalence of unprofessional conduct related to patient care was reported by students in this study,” wrote the authors.

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If I have said it once, I have said it a million times: there is just not enough time in the day for a college student to do everything that needs to get done. You have to go to classes, study, possibly work a job, sleep and eat, and you might just need a few hours of free time every day to keep from going insane. Try cramming that all into one day, and it just does not seem possible. However, if you use these tips, you’ll not only get everything you need to done, you might actually find yourself with more free time.

Make a plan. Make a list, or just spend some time each day prioritizing your activities. Start with the things you absolutely have to do, such as working or going to class. Then move on to the things that you really should do, such as study for the test you have next week. At the bottom of your list should be the things that you want to do or can do another day, such as watching the latest episode of “The Bachelorette” you TiVoed last night. Read the rest of this entry »