The increasing tendency among medical students to succumb to pressure was highlighted in a research paper published in the latest issue of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences journal.
The study was conducted by Ananda Reddy Endreddy, V.V. Gopala Raju Srijampana and Konathala Prabath, senior faculty members of Katuri Medical College and Hospital, Guntur. Of the 100 students who were subjected to the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), 34 showed ‘psychiatric manifestations’, which hit their quality of life and impacted their work.
According to the researchers, psychiatric and suicide cases are on the rise among medical students, particularly before examinations. Thirteen per cent of students, aged between 18 and 24, had social phobia (social anxiety disorder), while 10 per cent suffered from agoraphobia (fear and anxiety that cause people to avoid places and situations that might cause panic and render them helpless and embarrassed). Social phobia was 29.41 per cent in boys compared to just 0.04 per cent in girls.
Eleven types of psychiatric manifestations – social phobia, agoraphobia, generalised anxiety disorder, hypomania episodes, obsessive compulsive disorder, major depressive episodes, dysthymia, panic disorder, suicidal tendencies, psychotic disorders and anorexia nervosa (eating disorder) – were found in the students. Incidentally, 60 six per cent were totally free from psychiatric disorders. NTRUHS Director (R&D) G. Krishna Murthy said the failure to cope with stress subjected individuals to the risk of developing psychiatric manifestations.
While some disorders were self-limiting, others caused significant impairment of social, occupational and functional domains, Mr. Murthy observed. He added that a good number of medical students had fear of non-performance.
