Sociological Reasons of the Trajectory for Supporting the Students’ Psychoemotional Stability in Stressful Situations

Abstract

This article aims to identify correlations between personally significant problems of students of a university city and their use of psychotropic substances for non-medical purposes. The empirical data for the research were gathered among students of one of the cities of Western Siberia in March-June 2015. More than 22,000 full-time students were examined by the method of sociological survey. The sample in the study was continuous. The average age of the respondents at the time of the study was 20.9. Methods of analysis of official documentation and statistics on the studied problem and data processing (quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results) were also used. The study included three stages. Firstly, the spectrum of personally significant problems was identified affecting social stability and psychoemotional well-being of the target audience, and the facts of the presence/absence of the use of any psychoactive drugs with non-medical purposes and their frequency. In the group of "addicted people", it has been revealed that the most current problems provoking the use of psychotropic substances are household and financial difficulties, loads in the educational process, problems of loss of goals, values, interest in life. Secondly, the correlation between personality problems and the use of tobacco, alcohol, psychotropic substances and/or drugs with non-medical purposes was determined. It has been proved that the increase in pressure on the problem spheres provokes a desire to quickly remove the existing tension in available ways (by smoking, drinking alcohol) and sometimes through the use of drugs or other psychotropic substances. Finally, the necessity of qualified health care was established. The study has confirmed the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between the existence of personally significant problems and the frequency of use of drugs and other psychotropic substances for non-medical purposes. The obtained data showed that the problem of the emotional safety of the educational environment is wider than the prevention of smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction. Complex and systematic work at the level of the university and the region is needed to teach methods of biohacking, of supporting a positive self-esteem; to teach communication skills, overcoming social isolation, the technologies of saying 'no'; to organize targeted assistance of experts in the field of mental health (psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists or narcologists) to university students. Organization of awareness-raising and consultation work will be an optimal variant. Modern educational environment of the university imposes certain requirements to the psychological resources of the student and necessitates further study and regulation of emotional stability and psychological well-being of young people.