A Screening for Presence of Psychological Distress among Undergraduate Medical Students of a Medical College in Rural North-West India

摘要

Medical practitioners seem to suffer unacceptably high levels of psychiatric illness, depression and suicide, dependence on alcohol and drug abuse. The fact that they are aware of the existence of such medical conditions, they do not seek the kind of professional help for themselves as they would provide for their patients. However processes need to be in place to care of them. The aim of the study was to retrieve knowledge on psychological distress using GHQ-12 screening questionnaire. For this a cross sectional study was conducted on undergraduate medical students of a medical college located in the rural area of North West India using a self-administered General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) as a tool for assessment of psychological distress.90 students (43%) turned positive on screening. The prevalence of psychological distress was found to be higher among the male students. The study points to a need of providing attention to medical students during their entire tenure with special attention during exam times.