40 per cent of MBBS students suffer from mental health problems, finds study

Medical students should indulge in physical activities rather than use social media, say psychiatrists

According to a study published in the International Journal of Community Medicine, around 40 per cent of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student suffer from mental health problem which includes mild, moderate or severe stress levels.

The study was conducted by D Y Patil Medical college, Navi Mumbai, and had surveyed over 169 MBBS students.

A psychiatrist, citing the fact that over 50 per cent of students use social media to relieve stress, said that it is likely to increase stress levels more than provide relief.

Dr Sagar Mundada, a psychiatrist, said that most doctors choose social media as the avenue to relieve stress. But rather than indulging in social media, the students should invest more time in physical activities or healthy discussions among themselves.

“Most of the colleagues or friends of students on social media are doctors who keep putting up posts about their own achievements. Constant exposure to these posts can, in turn, result in creating more stress,” added Mundada.

The researchers had conducted this survey in order to find out the perceptions of stress factors and its relation to academic performance and stress management techniques used by them. “In the competitive environment the students are exposed to more stress than ever, either related to studies, examination, peer, teachers or parent’s pressure,” said researchers.

They added that more than 100 students from the first and second years of MBBS showed symptoms of mild, moderate and severe stress levels. “The high prevalence of mild and moderate stress emphasizes the need for implementing an intervention for the students,” said Dr Violet Pinto, Associate Professor and main author of the study.

Most numbers of students identified high parental pressure (127) and competition with peers (122) as the major reasons of stress. Others reasons were a vast syllabus (95), nature of teaching (90), involvement in the classroom (83) and frequent examinations (39).

Dr Alok Singh, Additional President of Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), said, “Most of the students have their families dependent on them and expect them to get married and start working soon. Studying with that existing pressure, it becomes difficult to excel like they were until this point."