Racialized Stress and Substance Use: Understanding the Link

By Dorian Owens

Dorian Owens is a graduate student at San Diego State University, pursuing a Master’s in Counseling through the Community-Based Block (CBB) Program, focusing on multicultural counseling and social justice. Dorian's approach to mental health care is rooted in humanistic, trauma-informed, and client-centered practices, emphasizing support for marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC populations.

College is a time of change, growth, and pressure. For many students, especially those from historically marginalized communities, it can also be overwhelming. The expectations to perform, to fit in, and to navigate unfamiliar systems often weigh heavily. For Black and Latinx students, this stress can be compounded by additional layers of social pressure, identity-related fatigue, and feeling unseen in academic environments.

Substance use doesn’t always start with addiction; it often begins as a coping strategy.

For some students, using alcohol, weed, or other substances is a way to manage anxiety, escape pressure, or deal with emotional pain. It can feel like a quick fix to slow the mind, numb hard feelings, or simply make it through the day. But over time, what starts as relief can turn into reliance. It’s easy to miss the signs when substance use becomes a routine, especially in college culture where drinking and using are normalized. What gets lost in the noise is that many students are struggling not to party, but to survive.

Substance use isn’t about weakness or lack of willpower. It's often a signal that something deeper needs care whether that's stress, trauma, grief, or isolation. Recovery, in this context, isn’t just about quitting a substance. It’s about building support, reconnecting to yourself, and finding healthier ways to cope.

You don’t have to do it alone.