March 1, 2023 - Wellness Guide

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

the diamondback

wellness guide

contents

3 5 important tips during midterms

4-5 psychohairapy

6 The wild west of wellness

7 Campus walk playlist

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ORIGINAL TEXT BY:

Lauren Bentley

Monica Godnick

Ella Sherman

COPY EDITED BY:

Ella Sherman

Devon Milley

Natalie Adams

Eric Neugeboren

Nataraj Shivaprasad

DESIGNED BY: Jenna Bloom

Sydney Theis

Hanna Zakharenko

PHOTO

EDITING BY:

Autumn Hengen

Cam Andrews

FRONT COVER PHOTO BY: Eric Robinson

BACK COVER PHOTO BY: Cam Andrews

All images © Copyright 2022 The Diamondback. All rights reserved.

Five important tips to follow during midterms

With midterm season fast approaching, the amount of schoolwork can often be difficult and overwhelming. It can be hard to balance studying and self-care. Here are five important tips to help you do so.

Get enough sleep

Studying can sometimes get the best you when schoolwork seems to takes up every waking moment. However, getting a good nights sleep is just as important. Although an all-nighter might sometimes feel like the best option for cramming in a lot of information, it will end up doing more harm than good. Getting sufficient rest will be much better preparation for your exam. Sleep deprivation hurts your focus and as the night goes on, you’ll end up finding it consistently harder to remember what you need to know.

Prioritize your time

Prioritize your time, and start as early as possible. Although it may sound cliché, this advice is possibly the most important. With the amount of classes many students have to balance, assignments and tests can feel like they’re quickly piling up. Getting a jump on your day is one way to help reduce some of the stress that accompanies overlapping deadlines. Try starting your harder assignments earlier, and incorporating your other work in as you go. Having assignments at least started will help motivate you to keep going. Your time is valuable, so make sure to organize your schedule as best as you can.

Take breaks

Large amounts of work can sometimes make you feel like there’s no time to breathe and recuperate. After a few hours, study sessions can start to feel unproductive once it gets harder to consistently focus. Try taking a few moments to help clear your head. The most effective way to do this would be planning out timed breaks after a set amount of time. That way, you’ll have something to look forward to and will be prepared once it’s time to start working again.

Set realistic goals

Comparing yourself to your peers is a feeling that often comes alongside exam season. Nobody is perfect, and putting even more pressure on yourself to achieve perfection is not helpful. Additionally, trying to cram tons of assignments and studying into a short amount of time will inevitably be overwhelming. Set goals and plan your schedule realistically. Comparing your study habits and grades with other students will not help you accomplish your goals. Just try your best; that’s all you need to ask of yourself.

Ask for help

You’re not expected to handle everything perfectly on your own. Asking for help can oftentimes be scary, but it will end up benefiting you. There are so many resources available to everyone, probably more than you are even aware of. So, reach out to your classmates, friends and professors if you need help with your work. The people around you want you to succeed, and they will certainly be willing to help you do so.

Here are some easy study and wellness tips students can easily follow for a better and more productive week

Psychohairapy: A Q&A with Dr. Mbilishaka the mental health and hair movement

Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka is a clinical psychologist and hairstylist. Throughout her career, she realized the importance of building a bridge between Black hair care and psychology. As a result, she founded PsychoHairapy. She sat with me on Zoom to explain what this hair and mental health movement is all about.

Note: The questions and answers were edited for clarity.

Monica Godnick: In a nutshell, what is PsychoHairapy?

Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka: PsychoHairapy is using hair as an entry point into mental health services. So this includes training hair care professionals to be lay health advisors, and practice mental health first aid. This also includes having therapists based in the hair salon and barbershop space, including workshops and even group therapy. And PsychoHairapy also includes using social media to spread messages around mental health through hair care pages.

Godnick: What’s an example of PsychoHairapy in action in hair salon and barbershop spaces?

Mbilishaka: A really good example of PsychoHairapy in action is when someone just experiences a death in the family. Oftentimes, when we’re preparing for a funeral, or even just the services, we get our hair done. But then it becomes part of the role of the hairstylist or barber to be able to have conversations — and helping someone cope with a major loss. And so oftentimes, I think stylists and barbers won’t immediately give advice. But a major piece of PsychoHairapy is learning how to be an active listener, to make sure you’re understanding. So for example, if someone experienced a loss, maybe they’re not feeling sad, maybe they’re feeling really angry, and to make a distinction between anger or sadness. Also to be able to find resources. If the concern

seems really big, if the grief is really complicated, to find that person a psychologist or social worker or psychiatrists to further support them in their process.

Godnick: Customers have a very close relationship with their hairstylist, so I’m imagining that in your experience there too, you also experienced that kind of relationship where you needed that resource.

Mbilishaka: The relationships, according to research in African American communities, between hair care professional and clients are very tight. For example, there are research studies that say that Black women are more likely to get their hair done than to go to a doctor’s appointment. And just recognizing that the health care providers, oftentimes are hair care professionals in this community.

Godnick: What inspired you to start this? When when was the moment you thought and realized that this movement was something needed in the Black community?

Mbilishaka: I always loved doing hair. I was my family’s stylist growing up. When I went to college that continued. I went to the University of Pennsylvania for undergrad and there, I ended up doing a lot of my classmates’ hair in my dorm room for free. I didn’t charge. But I love psychology, and I found this as a great space to have really meaningful conversations. So I remember talking to my aunt on the phone one day and telling her I wasn’t sure if I would enter psychology or hair care when I graduated. She said, ‘Well, why can’t you do both?’ I don’t think she was telling me to do both at the same exact time. But that’s the way I interpreted it and thought how critical it is to talk things out — but also to feel like you look better or be taken care of.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other, but it can actually be combined. Just observing the conversations that happen in barbershops and hair salons. They are extremely therapeutic, and so I recognize though that most barbers and hairstylists have never gotten a training around mental health. So I saw that as a clear point of connection to give sort of the informal therapists more training.

Godnick: Could we get more details about what your movement has found along the way about the connection between mental health and Black hair?

Mbilishaka: Well, I definitely have seen that hair can be a litmus test for someone’s mental health. I think that someone’s hair health is impacted by anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns. And so by addressing some of these mental health concerns, hair actually can look healthier, [to the point] that people want to come back for more appointments. [They] are more invested in their self care. I think that we’ve been seeing really good work around group conversation as well. There’s a salon in San Diego that has hired a [therapist] to join their team. So that in the evening, they can have these group conversations and process what’s been going on for the day. What’s interesting, particularly for this person — her name is Misty [Jackson], who has the salon in San Diego, who’s certified in PsychoHairapy — she’s ended up having clients come for the talking part that

weren’t even getting their hair done. And so just to even wanting to have community in that way. And I think that’s even part of the culture of African American hair salons, where sometimes people who aren’t getting their hair done can still participate and enjoy with them. That creates new customers and more opportunity to invest in self care.

Godnick: What kind of overall differences did you notice from your clients, or maybe you while you were also starting the movement, when they tried out your services or were more aware about this link between hair and mental health?

Mbilishaka: In terms of feedback from clients, I think a big part is about ritual. So a ritual is how you prepare your mind, body and spirit for something. They recognized how critical their hair care process was and their rituals for relationships, their rituals for family dynamics, their rituals for work. And [they] created more intention, in terms of what music should they be listening to, how much water do they need to be drinking, and just

even setting hair goals and intentions and to kind of monitor their own progress along with a hair care professional. I think a lot of the clients that I’ve connected with feel more comfortable going for weekly ther-

apy appointments, even outside of the salon because they’re getting used to talking more about their feelings and articulating what’s going on inside that sometimes can be ignored or neglected.

Godnick: How can students at the University of Maryland join the movement?

Mbilishaka: Students can join the PsychoHairapy movement by getting certified. I’ve had tons of undergraduate and graduate students get certified in PsychoHairapy to learn the history of hair, to learn about how mental illness shows up in communities and to learn some micro-counseling skills in terms of how to be an active listener, how to assess for harm and even how to refer to therapists respectfully. So these are skillsets that don’t require a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree or a Ph.D., but it’s accessible for everyone to be able to create a community of care.

Godnick: What are some tips doe students at the University of Maryland to take care of their relationship with hair and mental health in their everyday routine?

Mbilishaka: A big way to take care of your mental health and hair is to take care of your physical body. So I recommend drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day. I recommend exercising at least 30 minutes, four to five days a week. I recommend sleeping between seven to nine hours a night. And I recommend eating at least four to five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Those things will impact not only your mental health, your physical health but your hair health. So even starting with that.

The Wild West of wellness

TikTok is the newest search engine with hundreds of relevant videos appearing before our very eyes after one search. But it’s a blessing and a curse when it comes to finding trustworthy information in the wellness world.

When we are looking for advice under the umbrella of wellness such as “how to lose weight” or “supplements,” we are met with a mix of both false and well-researched narratives in digital form, and we may not be able to spot the difference between them.

”You have people who are looking for whether it’s diet tips or workout advice [on TikTok],” Dr. Ursula Gorham, a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland and the director of the master of library and information science program, said. “What you may have is people sharing misinformation, and not having ill intent or anything, but just being uninformed and not being an expert. But other people are then seeing what they’re saying.”

From drinking straight olive oil to ingesting a green powder to ease bloating, wellness methods are accompanied by a conventionally attractive individual and packaged in eye-catching hues or inviting fonts just enough to get your attention for the duration of a TikTok or an Instagram reel.

Bloom Nutrition, for example, is everywhere. The company claims its Greens & Superfoods powder can be taken daily and “balance gut health, boost energy and soothe uncomfortable bloat.” I went to the website for more information but found that the Food and Drug Administration had not evaluated the powder’s ingredient label or claims.

Alex Raymond, a certified eating disorder specialist and co-owner of College Park private practice, Courage to Nourish, said although there are times when supplements such as iron are necessary for certain deficiencies, checking with your doctor, doing your research and purchasing them from a reputable source is important.

“It’s important to ask yourself, ‘What is this person trying to sell?’ Again, are they trying to sell this quick fix like — ‘This is going to make me feel better instantly’ — nothing can do that,” she said.

Raymond added that bloating is a completely normal bodily response to digestion.

“Once you put food in your belly, there is going to be a sensation of bloating,” she emphasized.

“If we’re constantly thinking about it, then we’re going to be more aware of the bloat and that might cause anxiety because we think it’s not normal … If you’re just going about your life and living your day-to-day and not really thinking about your stomach or bloating, then you’re probably not really going to notice it.”

If you are experiencing pain with bloating or irregular bowel movements, however, she advises talking to a physician.

Lack of research seems to be the case with other wellness thingamabobs I’ve encountered, such as adaptogens.

Adaptogens are natural substances you may have heard of such as ashwagandha and maca. I originally heard about these plants from the Sea Moss Girlies podcast and got curious — and also skeptical. The blanket claim is that adaptogens help your body adapt to various forms of stress, which is as specific as it gets.

And again, studies to back up the effective science behind these herbal supplements are scarce.

On a potentially more harmful scale, some have experienced positive results from “detoxification programs,” however the number of quality studies that exist is lackluster, according to the National Institute of Health.

When I hear the word “detox,” what comes to mind is Mindy Kaling’s character in The Office who goes on a liquid cleanse consisting of lemon juice, water, pepper, cayenne and maple syrup for every meal to lose weight. She faints several scenes later as a result.

Juices and teas that may pop up on social feeds also come to mind when I think of the commodification of a detox — the job organs such as your liver do for free.

In reality, the “detoxing” properties of these products will most likely make you pee — because they’re liquids. Or poop — because they can also contain laxatives. While not all detox products are harmful, excessive use of laxatives can cause dehydration, constipation, organ damage and more.

When wellness products are advertised, it can also be hard to shy away from the visual aid of before and after photos. The goal can be to lose weight and feel good,

but the transformation to skinny shown in the after photo also appears to be the goal. Experts say being skinny and being healthy are not the same.

“The communication is eating as little as possible, moving as much as possible, making yourself as small as possible. And I think that we’re constantly getting that message all the time, in lots of ways that we’re not conscious of,” Cybele Hirschhorn, a behavioral health therapist at the University Health Center, said.

TikTok’s famous algorithm could mean an interaction with a post potentially alters your “For You” page — a mechanism that isn’t even unique to TikTok but something Hirschhorn said is “quite pervasive” as someone who has experienced this on social media herself.

To combat this, Hirschhorn has her clients sift through who they’re following and analyze whether they’re actually helpful influences in regard to their relationship with health.

“There can be a lot of value in curating your own content to be the kind of things that you’re wanting to see and feel supportive of your relationship with food and your body and exercise and all that,” she said.

Raymond also advises that in the overwhelming digital world, it’s best to be wary of any wellness content you come across online.

“[Social media] is really good at giving little snippets of advice and that’s kind of the point, right? To pull you in … but it’s not really individualized advice, “ she explained. “What works for one person might not work for someone else and even what works for one person one day might not

Campus walk boost playlist

Boost your mood as you walk across the campus with these songs that send good vibes.

“Flowers” - Miley Cyrus

“Lovely Day” - Bill Withers

“Good as Hell” - Lizzo

“Adore You” - Harry Styles

“September” - Earth, Wind & Fire

“Unwritten” - Natasha Bedingfield

“Breathe Deeper” - Tame Impala

“The Show Goes On” - Lupe Fiasco

“Here Comes The Sun” - The Beatles

“Old Time Rock & Roll” - Bob Seger

“Glitter” - Tyler the Creator

“Sunday Morning” - Maroon 5

“Good Vibrations” - The Beach Boys

“Good Days” - SZA

“Jumpin’, Jumpin’” - Destiny’s Child

“Oye Como Va” - Santana