New standards and expectations relating to academic or practical and other tasks can be difficult to manage. There can be pressure to fit in to a new social environment quite quickly. This may revolve around food and alcohol and also introduce choices that may not have been as readily available as before. This can come at a time when some people feel preoccupied by, and self-conscious about, their appearance, particularly when engaging in social activities. It may be that an issue around eating behaviours, which developed during school years, becomes more acute in the absence of guidance from your family. On the other hand, for some, the change of environment can act as a trigger for new and stressful feelings which you may not know how to cope with. The move away from an existing support network can come at a time where a sense of anonymity, particularly in large groups and classes, can heighten feelings of isolation and create feelings of loneliness.
For those who may already have an eating disorder, or whose relationship with food has already become complicated, the new level of autonomy around planning meals and choosing foods can be a real challenge. Disordered eating thoughts and behaviours around food can intensify or the change of environment can itself be a trigger for new and stressful behaviours. This may affect those who may be vulnerable in other ways such as individuals with low self-esteem and poor body image. As with any change, the best way to manage your experience is to get as much information as you can about what lies ahead, and then to prepare as best you can for those changes.
Below you will find information on topics that frequently come up when thinking about college:
The new environment you are in need not mean you are disconnected from the support options available to you. If you are not at home here are some ideas about ways you can help yourself:
Prepare in advance:
No matter how much you prepare, change is always difficult – the move to college can be challenging whether or not you have other issues to consider.
In the first few weeks and months, it may feel like everything is coming at you all at once. Give yourself time to adjust to the new demands and challenges. Set realistic goals based on what you need to manage within your course. If you are finding it difficult to manage your time, making a timetable to provide structure to your week can help you to balance and monitor the demands of your course. Don’t forget to include time for social activities, rest/breaks and head space away from academic work.
Try not to place unreasonable expectations on yourself. You are likely to be in college for a number of years. Try to approach and complete your work in manageable steps. Monitor your assignment deadlines and try to progress your work gradually rather than all at once. Try to break the academic year into small chunks, taking each term as a block of time. Managing your expectations about the non-academic aspects of college is also important.
In college, there can be an emphasis on convenience foods in an effort to save time or money. Trying new foods can bring about changes that you may not anticipate and which may be triggering for disordered and distorted thoughts and behaviours around food. This is why it is important to try and bring your home life routine and food schedules with you to college, so that you try in as much as you can, to manage your diet in a way that does not escalate into distress.
Understandably, it is not always possible to find food stores and shops that are open outside of normal business hours. You may find yourself changing your eating habits to something more regimented than might previously have been possible if you were living at home with your parents. Or, you may find that the exact opposite starts to happen and you lose all structure and schedule around meal times, going for long periods without eating, which itself can be triggering for behaviours such as binging and purging.
Helpful tips:
If you begin to see changes in your eating habits that worry you or you are not happy about, try to address this as early as possible by talking to someone.
Understandably, students can feel significant pressure at various times during the academic year, for example, before and during the exam period, as they work towards a final year project or thesis, when undertaking group work and as deadlines build up. Students undertaking placements can feel under pressure to meet the demands and standards of their course and cope with long hours, travel requirements, interactions with others or the need to complete practical tasks. It is during those periods that it can be easy to neglect your own needs such as eating regularly and getting enough rest and sleep.
If you think you are developing, or have developed, eating disordered behaviours, you may notice yourself:
If you feel you are slipping behind in your work, it is really important to speak with someone about this. College staff understand stress, and they understand that college can be tough for everyone sometimes. It can help to:
If your eating disorder has become more of an issue, you may need to take some time away from college. If this is the case, you should work with your academic advisor to clarify your options around returning at a later stage to complete your studies.
If you are feeling alone in this new environment, an eating disorder may increase this feeling of isolation, and make the process of adjusting more difficult. If you begin to feel yourself withdrawing from the social side of college, it is a good idea to look at what activities might suit you.
The aim should be to find your own comfort zone within your new environment.
