Prevalence of Anxiety, Depression and Stress among First Year Undergradute Medical Students

The goal of medical education is to train knowledgeable, competent and professional physicians to care for the nation's sick, advance the science of medicine and promote public health. Medical school can impose significant psychological stress on medical students mainly through time pressure, large amount of new information, excessive working hours and knowing that at the end of their training they will be directly responsible for the health and welfare of others.

To determine the prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress in first year undergraduate medical students in Shimoga.

A cross-sectional, questionnaire based survey was conducted among 200 First Year MBBS students aged between 18–22 years at SIMS, Shimoga using DASS-42 Scale.

Out of 200 students, about 65% had anxiety, 42% had depression and around 58% were found to be under stress. Female students were 6 times more likely to develop stress.

The challenges to all medical colleges are to promote student well-being and provide students with the coping tools to deal with stress throughout their medical education. They should incorporate more leisure activities in their curriculum, promote better interaction between the students and the faculty, have advisory services and peer group counseling at the campus and instigate rehabilitation programs for victims of anxiety and depression.