Survey finds 27.8% UG medical students suffering from mental health issues

livemint.com:

As many as 27.8% of undergraduate (UG) medical students and 15.3% of post graduate students (PG) suffer from mental health disorder, says a survey conducted by India’s apex medical education regulator. Of the 37,962 participants surveyed by the the National Medical Commission (NMC), 16.2% UG students and 31.23% PG students have suicidal ideas. The reasons for such mental health disorders include the pressure of paying educational loans and debt (32.7%), students facing ragging (18%), sub-par hostel facilities (41.6%), and lack of privacy (33.7%).

The regulator a formed a task force to suggest remedial measures. It conducted an online survey to understand the mental health status of medical students and faculties. A total of 25,590 UG, 5,337 PG and 7,035 faculty members responded to the online survey.

As far as UG students are concerned, mental health conditions have been diagnosed in 7,115 (27.8%) of them, with 3,780 (14.8%) having one condition, 1,851 (7.2%) having two, and 1,045 (4.1%) having three conditions. Thoughts of self-harm or suicide in the last 12 months were reported by 4,139 (16.2%) students, with 1,305 (5.1%) seeking professional help. Faculty or mentors are seen as “extremely unsupportive" by 4,664 (18.2%).

Among PG students, 1,667 (31.23%) disclosed experiencing suicidal ideas. Moreover, 564 (10.57%) PG students indicated making plans to attempt suicide within the last year. Additionally, 237 (4.44%) PG students admitted to attempting suicide in the past year.

Around 2,486 (9.7%) UG students confirmed ragging experiences. A significant number of PG students 930 (18%) also reported that the problem of ragging was still there and hurt them. A total of 1,425 (27%) reported experiencing harassment from