Hearing the acronym ‘TLC’ could bring multiple things to mind: a popular television station with hits like What Not to Wear, a popular 90s girl group who sang Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls or simply tender loving care. But with new research by the American Psychological Association, ‘TLC’ takes on a whole new meaning for your health.
For the researchers at the University of California, Irvine’s College of Medicine, TLC refers to ‘therapeutic lifestyle changes’. This can include anything from exercising to religious involvement. The researchers found that taking part in TLC is as effective as drugs and counseling to treat many mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.
Hopefully, you are not suffering from a serious mental illness, but who isn’t stressed out in college? With schoolwork, extracurricular activities, jobs, and actually going to class, any student at Hofstra could probably pinpoint a time in their life when they needed a little TLC.
Many studies have come out stating the fact that exercise and recreational activities (which in other words is just having fun) improves mood and performance on many daily activities. But this is the first study to find just how important ‘therapeutic lifestyle changes’ are to a healthy mentality.
The researchers compared the effects of TLC to the costs of spending too much time indoors watching TV or looking at a computer screen, being socially isolated, and not getting outdoors enough. They found that TLC is often underrated to therapists and patients, but often it is the best choice to treat things like anxiety. For one, they are relatively inexpensive if not free, and they’re often more enjoyable than alternatives like medicine and therapy sessions.
This does not mean that everyone can be cured of an illness by just making these lifestyle changes, but if you’re having a bad week in school or even a bad year, it might help to give yourself a little TLC.
Here are some ways to make therapeutic lifestyle changes:
– Exercise
– Eat a healthy diet
– Relax and manage your stress
– Take part in recreational and fun activities
– Meditate
– Get involved religiously and spiritually
– Spend time in nature
– Be with people who you enjoy
– Contribute to a service or charity
There are so many activities that can go along with these categories it would be impossible to list them all. Just remember that as college students, we need to understand how to handle our stress and anxiety and know what changes to make to improve our mental well being.
HU: Healthy University is a new series by HerCampus writer Meghan McCloskey, which centers around Hofstra fitness.