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ISSN: 2394-4137 (E) 2394-6318 (P)

IJIMS.2019.124

Type of Article: Review

Volume 7; Issue 1: 2020

Page No.: 867-874

DOI: 10.16965/ijims.2019.124

HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS CAUSING ANXIETY AMONGST MEDICAL STUDENTS

Reshma Fateh, Sateesh Babu Arja, Sireesha Bala Arja, Tarig Fadlallah Altahir Ahmed, Praveen Kottath Veetil, Kumar Ponnusamy *.

Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Curacao, Netherland Antillies.

Corresponding author: Dr Kumar Ponnusamy, Chair & Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Curacao, Netherland Antilles. E-Mail: kumar.ponnusamy@avalonu.org

ABSTRACT:

The medical students undergo tremendous stress and mental pressure during their academic life and clinical studies. The high level of anxiety and depression among medical students is very common occurrence combined with the academic pressure that has a severe impact on their mental and physical health.  The current study aims to explore various articles presented by scholars in the field of analysing the impact of stress causing anxiety and depression in medical students and evaluating its impact on prevalence of depression among medical students. This study critically analyses and reviews articles published in this decade for analysing the role of depression and anxiety and experiences of medical students and the reaction to stress. The central idea of the study understands different perspectives presented by scholars in the field of stress and anxiety and its prevalence among the medical students highlighting the causes and key issues. This is vital for understanding the critical factors affecting the mental health and physical well-being of the medical students in order to derive suggestions for early identification and providing for support by the medical schools. The study had used electronic databases for rummaging and reviewing literature articles published on stress and other psychological determinants among medical students and management of stress. In the current study, data were extracted through reviewing various related research articles focusing more on the prevalence and suggest possible stress management strategies in medical students. The current study focuses on findings and views of different scholars with stress as an epicentre of discussion and other factors such as environmental factors, social and economic factors and so on that directly or indirectly impacts on the medical student’s mental health.  The purpose of the study to analyse the research articles to acknowledge the quantum of research done in the field of understanding the causes and impact of stress and depression among medical students and mark the areas where further research can be conducted.

Key Words: Depression, Well-Being, Medical Students, Medical School, Mental Health.

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