'NORMALISE ASKING FOR HELP'

Long hours, exam stress, facing death and trauma at work have affected the mental health of medical students. It's time they started seeking help.

- Sheena Sachdeva

I had a mental breakdown after coming to the college," said a dentist who graduated from a Uttarakhand dental college in 2017. Her reasons were alleged "ragging and favouritism". She made it, but mental health concerns about students training to be doctors abide.

Since March, there have been at least 15 reported cases of suicides among medical students in different parts of the country, Careers360 found.

According to a research paper published in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry titled 'Suicide deaths among medical students, residents and physicians in India spanning a decade (2010-2019): An exploratory study using online news portals and Google database', 125 medical students and 105 resident doctors - postgraduate students were reported to have died by suicide between 2010 and 2019.

Students and psychiatrists cited a host of reasons for the mental health crisis among this set of students. First among them was the process of joining the MBBS course itself. For those who make it, the intense competition to secure a seat is followed by academic pressure and difficult work conditions further exacerbated during the Covid19 pandemic and finally, another round of prep for a postgraduate seat. Plus, ragging can push students over the edge; attempts to stamp it out have been inadequate, doctors pointed out.

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