Stop Making Xanax Cool

“I need a Xanax.”

I am at fault for using this phrase as a joke. I hear it almost daily. What we do not think about when using this phrase so lightly and jokingly is that Xanax abuse has become a large problem, specifically in college towns. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Xanax is a prescription drug that is used to treat anxiety disorders, panic disorders, and/or depression caused by anxiety.

“Since Xanax – including its generic form, alprazolam – is the most widely –prescribed of the non benzodiazepines, it is also the most widely abused of these drugs,” according to Narconon.

It is a controlled substance that “can cause paranoid or suicidal ideation and impair memory, judgement, and coordination. Combining with other substances, particularly alcohol, can slow breathing and possible lead to death.”

Part of the that last sentence is one of the key problems, “combining with other substances, particularly alcohol, can slow breathing and possibly lead to death.”

I have seen, first-hand, the effects of mixing Xanax with alcohol more times than I wish I have, and it’s scary. I have had friends not remember blocks of days, having no idea of where they went, what they did, or who they were with. I have seen relationships ruined because of Xanax abuse. Seeing someone after they have mixed Xanax with alcohol and seeing someone really drunk are two completely different things.

There is no life in the eyes of someone who has mixed Xanax with alcohol; you can’t understand anything they are saying. This isn’t like slurring their words, they are talking straight up nonsense. Aside from using Xanax to “party,” I have also seen it used to escape reality. Be it break-ups, fights with parents, or failing a test- taking a Xanax can help you not feel those realities as deeply as you normally would. You become numb, although it is only temporary.

Taking Xanax as a “one-time thing” may seem fine, but you never know what could happen after that one time becomes two times, and that could eventually lead to addition. You always think it won’t happen to you until it happens to you or someone you love. A coworker of mine was a victim of Xanax stated, “by the end when I sought help for my addition, I was at a point where I couldn’t string a proper sentence of words together. I had no memory as well as false memories and to this day I have slight short-term memory problems.”

Whether Xanax is being used to party or escape reality, it’s a huge problem. College is about making memories, having fun, and trying new things. But what is so fun about blacking out so hard you can’t remember an entire day? I’m sorry, but I just don’t see the appeal.

Why You Don’t Want To Be Prescribed Adderall

 

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. As I’m writing this, I can feel my concentration slipping. Noises have become enticing, like the constant tapping on my keyboard. I feel distanced from my phone, and every time someone walks by me in the library, I turn around to see if it’s someone I know. My extended release Adderall is starting to wear off and my brain is starting to relax back to its natural state. My ADD is climbing out from underneath the blanket of focus I had for 10 hours today.  

            According to drugs.com, “Extended release Adderall releases half the medication instantly and the second half is released in slower dissolving capsules.” It gives the person focus throughout the day instead of Adderall that instantly releases the medication and wears off after about four to six hours. ADD is not something you want to have. Sure, we get prescribed the precious Adderall so many people want, but at what cost? Let me put this in context for you. You know when you’re at the library and there’s one, really loud girl talking on the phone? The girl that for some reason thinks it’s okay to have a full-fledged conversation with her mom about her boyfriend in the middle of the third floor of the quiet section. The girl that’s talking so loud that it’s all you can think about, occupying all of your focus. Well, that’s what every single person in the room is like when you have ADD. Distractions that are easy to ignore to someone without ADD are intensified, and instead of focusing on the task at hand, I’m listening to the girl three seats down from me, eating her salt and pepper kettle chips.

            What almost everyone that asks me for my Adderall doesn’t understand is that I take Adderall to focus how you would normally. When you take my Adderall, you feel like you can solve the world’s problems. You can bang out an entire project in one night. You can cram for an entire exam fueled by this surge of motivation that seems super-hero-like. You take my Adderall and ask me, “Is this how you feel all the time?” Unfortunately, my answer is no. I’ll never feel like a limitless mastermind. When I take it, I become a normal human being. I can finish a normal amount of work, in a normal amount of time.

            My brain works in two modes: on Adderall, and off Adderall. On Adderall, I’m attentive, motivated and energetic. Off Adderall, I can barely get up the motivation and focus to clean my room or send an email. According to Additudemag.org, “Brain imaging studies using PET scanners show that brain metabolism in children with ADD is lower in areas of the brain that control attention, judgment, and reason.” It frustrates me that this is how my brain operates- scattered, spastic, and very unorganized.

            Having ADD isn’t a free pass to get super-pills; it means you have a disability. I take Adderall, and I didn’t have a say in it. Emily a junior at Loyola Marymount University who also suffers from ADD said, “The worst thing you can say to anyone with ADD is, ‘I think I should start taking Adderall.’ ” I was diagnosed with ADD my freshman year of college. After I was diagnosed I was told, “This is something you’re going to have to take for the rest of your life.” When the late night assignments are over, and we’re all out in the real world, I’m still going to be taking Adderall. When I’m raising a family and have to take the right kid to the right place for soccer practice, I’m still going to be taking Adderall. When I’m trying to remember the numbers they just said for bingo at my nursing home, I’ll probably still be taking Adderall.

            So you tell me you’re jealous that I get prescribed Adderall? Don’t be. I’m jealous that you can drink a cup of coffee and motivate yourself once you lose focus. I’m jealous that the success of your day doesn’t depend on whether or not you took a pill that morning. So, before you say you want to be prescribed to Adderall, ask yourself if you need and want to operate in two different modes. Ask yourself if you want to rely on medicine to make your entire life work. If I had a choice, I would choose coffee like the rest of the world.

Ageism in the Fashion Industry

What do you think when you hear the word model? “Tall, skinny, and young. So pretty much Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid,” says Jennifer Lee as she hunches over her math notes at a Starbucks table. Not only are these types of women the faces of the fashion industry, they are the faces of Western beauty standards. Therefore, one must be tall, thin, white, and young. The fashion industry has always been this way. One can go through the archive of videos of every runway of every designer from 1991 to the present on Vogue’s website. The lack of diversity in runway shows has drawn a lot of criticism in the past. For example, Balenciaga’s Fall 2016 Runway “hired one nonwhite model to walk the runway” according to The Fashion Spot. The topic of the fashion industry’s lack of racial diversity is not new; however, people do not account for or talk about ageism in the industry. Ageism is the discrimination based on a person’s age. According to The Zoe Report, “models over the age of 50 were the least represented group of people on the runway, even more so than different races, sizes and gender identities.”

Some designers are obsessed with youth as a theme for their shows. For example, Christian Dior opened its Fall 2015 runway show with 14-year-old Sofia Mechetner in a sheer dress. However, this fascination with youth becomes a problem because the fashion industry is a statement about what Western beauty standards are. They are saying youth is in, mature beauty is not.

Despite the lack of attention towards this problem, there have been some designers that have tried to combat this problem through their runway shows. The brand VETEMENTS, led by Demma Gvasalia, has released a video of its FW17-18 line on a runway based on a subway escalator (VETEMENTS FW17-18). Although many may look at Gvasalia’s approach as strange and hard to look at, he hopes to make people confront what they may find uncomfortable. This line has a great diversity in race, gender, and most glaringly, age. He puts middle-aged and elderly women and men in clothes that are stereotypically “old people” clothes. He makes a critique on the stereotypes placed on older people by placing them in clothes that we would associate them with, and by making it obvious, he forces the audience to question it. He wants people to understand and look at the fact that VETEMENTS are just that, clothing. Pun intended.

            Not only will it help older women and men embrace their mature beauty, it will also help the brands sell their clothing. According to Brandon Gaille’s marketing website, “58% of women who do shop for apparel online around the world are in the 25-45 age demographic” which means that by appealing to older women, their profits will most likely increase as well.

            There are several controversies that follow the fashion industry. The most well-known problems include the promotion of unhealthy beauty standards and the lack of racial diversity. However, there is much more to discuss such as the prevailing ageism. It is important for the leading figures in the industry to understand that audiences look to them as the declarants for beauty standards.

The Politics of Music

           Every morning for the past week I have gotten ready for class to the same three songs: “Bounce Back” by Big Sean, “Fantastic Planet” by Soko, and “Ultralight Beam” by Kanye. It’s typically harmless to bob your head to the beat of a song that gets your body moving; however, when does it become necessary to look at the politics behind music and the artists that are producing it? I can let you know right now. It’s when they say they would vote for a man that believes people of your ethnicity are rapists and criminals. I’m referring to Kanye West’s comments at his performance in San Jose, California. He commented on several things including his approval of Donald Trump, the Black Lives Matter movement, racism in the United States, and the construction of a new U.S.-Mexico wall. Although Kanye seems to have always been a voice for the black community, he does not seem to have the same empathy for other minority groups, including Mexican immigrants. The question then becomes whether we can equate an artist’s personal political views and the pieces of art they create. Are people allowed to create a direct link and “boycott” the art because of the artist’s controversial beliefs?

            It was November 17, 2016 and Kanye West was performing the song “Heartless” when he went off on a rant about the elections. According to Complex, Kanye said he “would’ve voted for Trump” if he voted at all. He goes on to say “Black people, stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, okay? Let’s stop being distracted to focus on that as much. It’s just a fucking fact. We are in a racist country. Period,” according to People.com. Although his opinion now is to stop focusing on racism, this isn’t how he always thought. For example, Kanye opens the song “New Slaves” with the lines “My momma was raised in the era when clean water was only served to the fairer skin” and even makes claims that “the DEA teamed up with the CCA” to imprison black people. There is a stark contrast between his 2003 song and the comments he made at his concert in 2016. This is not the only change in Kanye’s attitude that has alarmed his fans. While at one point he was the voice for minorities, this does not ring true for all minority groups anymore. Although there is no video proof, several people at the concert tweeted that Kanye freestyled the words "I hope they build the wall, I hope they get rid of them all” which is upsetting for Mexican-Americans such as myself.

            Now comes the conflicting feelings inside of me. Kanye West is an artistic genius that sees no boundaries. He is not afraid of stopping a live broadcast to speak for the black community, he creates art of all mediums including clothes, and is most certainly unpredictable. I can’t deny how good his music is. Every time I sit down to think about it though, I feel conflicted. Savannah Medina, a Philosophy Major at Loyola Marymount University says, “I don’t really like Kanye as a person, but I do like his music. Although I believe they should be inseparable, I don’t think that way.” It becomes easy to listen to a song without a care about who the artist is and what they have done. It also becomes a limitation of who I can listen to. For example, I would not be able to listen to Jay Z, Gucci Mane, Tupac Shakur and so many more if I were to look at their history. Not only would it limit musical artists, but it would limit consumption of all kinds. Consumption based on the history of actors, athletes, artists, and celebrities would be limited. However, I do believe it is more important now than ever to understand who you are following and empowering. In the end, it is up to the individual to decide. Should the artist and the art become one or will they remain separate entities?

Hookups? It’s a Millennial Thing

            “Brenda, guess what?” “What?” “I met this guy… Well Sorta. I met him on Tinder.” “What’s that?”

Ah, the day my view on relationships changed. It was my third year at LMU so I felt behind. My friend tells me with this ancy excitement that it is the way of meeting guys. She takes a seat on the couch next to me in her apartment, and unlocks her pink cased Iphone 5. She directly presses on an orange flame icon in her app section. “Look, you basically just go through all these guys and see which you’re attracted to—you pick the age and distance from you. Try it. Give me your phone. It’s fun!” I nervously yet curiously give her my phone and there went the next hour. Every time I’d get the notice that I matched with someone, I couldn’t help but smile—self-gratification ladies and gentlemen. It was all fun and games until I got that message. I’ll spare the details but it was what many call the “booty call message” not a: Hey what kind of music do you like? But rather a let’s skip the getting to know you and have fun welcoming.

My heart begins to race and I become flustered at what this guy, who’s existence I’ve only known for 30 seconds, proposes. Hey whoa there, what? No. No. That is crazy. No. Safe to say this whole Tinder thing wasn’t for twenty-year old Brenda. This whole Millennial way was not for me at the time.

Millennials claim the hook up craze. We are in a time where there is no time. For anything. My good friend Emma Walswick, a dear millennial, explains that hook up culture “mirrors like our whole personality as millenials. We are easily distracted and never happy with what we have and always want instant gratification. We hook up because it’s easy and immediate without thinking about the future and when we get bored it’s easy to move onto something new and exciting, aka another hook up.” Everything has to be rushed for us. Always onto what we have to do next.

Tinder seemed crude. I couldn’t help but think about my grandma telling me, No man wants someone who has been around nor does God approve of such a thing, as she sits at the kitchen table because my mom had to work. My conventional upbringings were that of an angel on my right shoulder, the one who pointed out what’s right. Even if I don’t like it. Then a red little guy on my left.

But is hooking up that bad if it expresses independence? A millenialls way of making themselves. Finding their individuality. The millennial way—where less consider themselves religious and where more are receiving a higher education. The Atlantic’s article, “The Sexually Conservative Millennial,” compared millennial’s parents and grandparents, millennials are “much less Christian.” The article adds that education does have a big effect as well, “Half of college-educated Millennials are okay with hookups, compared to only a third of those with a high-school degree,” as to pose a correlation between being educated and being more open to less traditional behaviors and therefore seeing less faults in doing things as we see fit.

            A different source has the opposite reaction to this hookup lifestyle. Sebastian Correa feels that “the physical is there but the emotional isn’t. No matter who it was I never felt complete.”  Overall, we each have our own set of upbringings and views towards it. I have come to encourage it. If it’s safe and not harming your well-being… do it. Emma lastly adds that it “procures a lot of independence. [She] feel[s] it’s an okay thing for the time being to find oneself and not completely rely on a significant other.”

So, as a fourth year who gave a chance to the whole Tinder craze, only do it if you feel it doesn’t question who you are, and instead lets you affirm your being by liberating yourself from societal restrictions. Don’t roll with it because it’s hyped. Roll with it because you feel comfortable and it’s a mutual situation. 

Muffins and The Grammys

Strolling down the Venice boardwalk, I take a few moments to let my curiosity consume me as a crowd begins to form around a young boy moonwalking to a static filled rendition of Beat it by Michael Jackson. I continue on until I see a small coffee shop, I take my seat and continue my favorite hobby of people watching. Sitting next to me is a girl decked in multiple brightly colored braids that cascade down her back with a huge instrument case beside her. She stands up to hug me. This beautiful girl’s name is Zoe Jackson and she had a lot to say about her music, Taylor Swift and the pressures of mainstream award shows.

As she sips her drink and waits for her chocolate muffin, she opens up about her early exposure to music. Zoe’s whole life is music, starting at age 6 when she learned how to play the piano. Adoring the jazz her father played around the house, she decided to start a band at age 12. A band that still plays live all around Los Angeles. Her artistic vision is what she’s really passionate about. She combines her vision with her band mates saying “we had a similar idea of what we wanted our genre to be, which was Jazz-fusion, we always bounced ideas off each other to make it cohesive”. 

As a new artist, she is reflective of her music as a small contribution to the huge industry in Los Angeles, she describes this in a comparison to the Grammys,  

“I only care about the performances to be honest because that’s what I love to do”. Zoe looks away and admires the art on the wall before she continues, “you know, its so crazy cause the people who vote for the nominations and winners are bullshit. They’re all old and most of the time don’t know anything about anything and aren’t representative of what people want- you never hear of those winners because its not pop, RnB or rap or whatever”. Zoe continuously struggles to book venues and find an appreciative audience as she searches for representation or an agent. “There’s so many people who win or are so talented that never get talked about unless it’s album of the year”. This portrayal of the Grammys is not unheard of, especially amongst people within the millennial generation. According to Variety,  while it “produced a slight year-over-year increase in overall viewership…it fell to a seven-year low in the key young-adults demo”. Which means more and more young people are becoming disinterested in award shows.

As award season comes and goes, One cant help but wonder if a Grammy puts even more pressure on an artist to shape their goal into awards instead of creative progression. She gave an enlightening response: “I don’t think I have ever thought- oh I need a Grammy, its almost cooler to perform than to win, even when you win its not like people will go out and listen to you so really there’s no point, I gave up on that, I focus on contributing my work and trying to mold it into something better and new”. This view on how the value of a Grammy is almost insignificant is hard to prove wrong since, according to the Rolling Stone, some of the biggest artists in the world haven't won a Grammy. Some artists include, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Guns and Roses, to name an iconic few.  As she receives her chocolate muffin, she declares, “These muffins are the shit, you should really get one”, I politely decline and let her scarf down the oozing chocolate pastry. 

Zoe waves a few of her braids out of her face and offers to buy me a scone. As I admire her instrument case she tells me “its my bass, I have, like, four in my apartment. They grow with me. I got this one as a gift”. As she sips her mocha latte her face gets red and passionate as she raises her voice and says “Just be sure you write this down -fuck Taylor Swift”.

Long Gone

A long distance relationship is doomed one. Now, this may come off as harsh or dramatic, but after just getting out of a long distance relationship, I can say this with full confidence. According to Statistic Brain, over 40 percent of long distance couples break up. I started a friend that graduated last year from my college. She had always been someone I found extremely attractive, and enjoyed spending time with due to our many shared interest. A year goes by, she moves home after graduation, and visits campus for a concert; which is when we started dating. Why we decided to find a romantic interest in each other after she graduated, I do not know. I do know that it was an incredible relationship while it lasted, made up of new passion and excitement. I would often think about how weird it was that I was dating someone I considered a good friend, but I would also question why I was dating someone during my senior year of college. Additionally, someone who isn’t even in the same city as I am. I began to think I was just keeping the relationship going after a few months out of the fear of being lonely. Our society is built around the idea that being in love, or even just having someone to go on a date with, provides validation to an individual. The magazine, Thrillist noted that 57 percent of millennials feel lonely without a partner. I never understood those who felt it was a necessity to be in a relationship, but I began to see their point. All in all, the relationship ended due to distance. She would always want me out there, and I always wanted her to visit me. The worst part is that we are not even speaking to each other now after dating for 6 months and breaking up. I feel that we did not truly examine or realize that we were getting into a long distance relationship, or what that even meant. It was all new territory for me. Psychology Today reported that 59 percent of lovers remain Facebook friends after breaking up, which she and I have; but refuse to text or call each other. I am still debating if I should have tried to of made the relationship work, or the friendship.