Depression
Content
Depression among medical students
The word depressed is a common everyday word. People might say "I'm depressed" when in fact they mean "I'm fed up because I've failed an exam, or lost my job", etc. These kinds of feelings are common and normal. Most people recover quite quickly from them. However, in true depression, one will have a low mood and other feeling such as being sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless. They may lose their appetite and interest in activities which once were pleasurable for them, problems in concentration, insomnia, and may even attempt suicide. Any person can be in depression but there are some people who are at higher risk of developing depression. These include women who are twice as likely as men to develop depressive illness with no known explanation for it. Also people facing severe or multiple stresses or those who are emotionally isolated. These are some of the most important factors that determine whether or not one will develop depressive illness when faced with the stresses of life. Other high risk people include; women after childbirth, anxious or nervous people, perfectionists, and those with a genetic predisposition to depression. About 2 in 3 adults experience depression at some time in their life. Sometimes the depression is mild or lasts just a few weeks. Severe depression that requires treatment occurs in about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men at some point in their lives. Medical students are one of the most vulnerable groups with a high risk of developing depression. According to a study published in JAMA, 14% of medical students have symptoms of moderate to severe depression.. In addition, roughly 5% of the 505 students surveyed revealed that they had suicidal thoughts at some point during training. A survey published in Epidemiology and Health found that 40% of 120 medical students in Seoul, Korea, appeared to have depression. According to a study in Journal of Pakistan medical association (JPMA) conducted in 2010, Prevalence of anxiety and depression among students of first, second, third, fourth and final years was 45.86%, 52.58%, 47.14%, 28.75% and 45.10% respectively. Female students were found to be more depressed than male students. There was a significant association between the prevalence of anxiety and depression and the respective year of medical college. It was seen that age, marital status, locality and total family income did not significantly affect the prevalence of anxiety and depression. There are other studies conducted in different medical schools across the world and almost all of them have concluded that medical students constitute a vulnerable group that has a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity manifesting as anxiety and depression. Not only do medical students experience a higher rate of depression than the general population, but they also attach a higher degree of stigma to having any mental illness and that is the real problem. Medical students who are having high levels of depressive symptoms are worried that revealing their illness would be risky and it means they have inadequate coping skills. Also, some medical students believe that they are under extraordinary pressures because they are making life and death decisions and so they cannot afford to be wrong. It seems that there is such incredible pressure to be perfect that any sense of falling short makes them very anxious. Some other medical students believe
that if they are depressed, their fellow medical students would respect their opinions less
and that faculty members would view them as being unable to handle their responsibilities. The stigma also contributes to the likelihood that medical students will not seek out treatment for depression because they are concerned about perceptions that would limit future options. There are actually many incorrrect beliefs among the medical students regarding depression which limit them from seeking for medical help that ultimately results in suicide of many of them. I believe that there should be new approaches to first reduce the stigma of depression and then to control the causes of the depression among medical students. Since many of them tend to think that the normal rules of life don’t apply to medical students or doctors, we need to try to change these thoughts appropriately. Finally, I want to deliver the message of a medical student to all those who can make change "If there was one thing I could implement in medical schools it is that there would be more attention paid to the mental health of students, because I believe that it is only when we ourselves are healthy that we can begin to treat others."
References: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Depression.htm http://jpma.org.pk/full_article_text.php?article_id=2243 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/739527 http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/21/depression-stigma-higher-in-medicalstudents/18468.html
The word depressed is a common everyday word. People might say "I'm depressed" when in fact they mean "I'm fed up because I've failed an exam, or lost my job", etc. These kinds of feelings are common and normal. Most people recover quite quickly from them. However, in true depression, one will have a low mood and other feeling such as being sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless. They may lose their appetite and interest in activities which once were pleasurable for them, problems in concentration, insomnia, and may even attempt suicide. Any person can be in depression but there are some people who are at higher risk of developing depression. These include women who are twice as likely as men to develop depressive illness with no known explanation for it. Also people facing severe or multiple stresses or those who are emotionally isolated. These are some of the most important factors that determine whether or not one will develop depressive illness when faced with the stresses of life. Other high risk people include; women after childbirth, anxious or nervous people, perfectionists, and those with a genetic predisposition to depression. About 2 in 3 adults experience depression at some time in their life. Sometimes the depression is mild or lasts just a few weeks. Severe depression that requires treatment occurs in about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men at some point in their lives. Medical students are one of the most vulnerable groups with a high risk of developing depression. According to a study published in JAMA, 14% of medical students have symptoms of moderate to severe depression.. In addition, roughly 5% of the 505 students surveyed revealed that they had suicidal thoughts at some point during training. A survey published in Epidemiology and Health found that 40% of 120 medical students in Seoul, Korea, appeared to have depression. According to a study in Journal of Pakistan medical association (JPMA) conducted in 2010, Prevalence of anxiety and depression among students of first, second, third, fourth and final years was 45.86%, 52.58%, 47.14%, 28.75% and 45.10% respectively. Female students were found to be more depressed than male students. There was a significant association between the prevalence of anxiety and depression and the respective year of medical college. It was seen that age, marital status, locality and total family income did not significantly affect the prevalence of anxiety and depression. There are other studies conducted in different medical schools across the world and almost all of them have concluded that medical students constitute a vulnerable group that has a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity manifesting as anxiety and depression. Not only do medical students experience a higher rate of depression than the general population, but they also attach a higher degree of stigma to having any mental illness and that is the real problem. Medical students who are having high levels of depressive symptoms are worried that revealing their illness would be risky and it means they have inadequate coping skills. Also, some medical students believe that they are under extraordinary pressures because they are making life and death decisions and so they cannot afford to be wrong. It seems that there is such incredible pressure to be perfect that any sense of falling short makes them very anxious. Some other medical students believe
that if they are depressed, their fellow medical students would respect their opinions less
and that faculty members would view them as being unable to handle their responsibilities. The stigma also contributes to the likelihood that medical students will not seek out treatment for depression because they are concerned about perceptions that would limit future options. There are actually many incorrrect beliefs among the medical students regarding depression which limit them from seeking for medical help that ultimately results in suicide of many of them. I believe that there should be new approaches to first reduce the stigma of depression and then to control the causes of the depression among medical students. Since many of them tend to think that the normal rules of life don’t apply to medical students or doctors, we need to try to change these thoughts appropriately. Finally, I want to deliver the message of a medical student to all those who can make change "If there was one thing I could implement in medical schools it is that there would be more attention paid to the mental health of students, because I believe that it is only when we ourselves are healthy that we can begin to treat others."
References: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Depression.htm http://jpma.org.pk/full_article_text.php?article_id=2243 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/739527 http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/21/depression-stigma-higher-in-medicalstudents/18468.html
