One medical student dies by suicide every five days, says report by National Task Force

The report pointed out that every year about 74 medical students tragically take their own lives due to overwhelming anxiety, depression, and stress

Hyderabad: On an average, there is one suicide of a medical student every five days in the country.

This alarming finding was highlighted in a report of the National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-Being of Medical Students.

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The Task Force report lays threadbare the silent epidemic of mental health crisis spreading fast in the medico community across India. It pointed out that every year about 74 medical students tragically take their own lives due to overwhelming anxiety, depression, and stress. This is compounded by the fact that between 20 and 37 per cent of medical students experience suicidal thoughts.

The prevalence of mental health issues among medical students pursuing MBBS, postgraduate, and super-specialty degrees is alarmingly high, the report revealed. In South India, depression affects 37 per cent of students, anxiety 51 per cent, and stress 33 per cent, it said.

While the NCRB reports an annual suicide rate of 74 medical students, other studies, including those by the NMC and independent researchers which are based on tracking media reports of suicides of medical students, estimate the rate between 26 and 31 per cent. Resolving the discrepancy in these figures requires further investigation, the National Task Force observed.

The prevalence of depression varies widely from 8.5 per cent to 71 per cent, which could be attributed to variations in study methodology. “However, the pooled prevalence rates derived from a subset of these studies provided more focused estimates. Depression was found to be 39 per cent based on 16 studies with 3882 participants and anxiety was 35 per cent from four studies including 686 participants and stress was 51.3 per cent from 28 studies encompassing 5354 medical students,” the report said.

Quoting the records of National Medical Commission (NMC), the special report said that in the past 5 years, a total of 122 medical students, out of which 64 were undergraduate and 58 were PG students, have died by suicide.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2022, however, has indicated that the suicide rate in India was close to 12.4 per lakh of population. “Applying this rate to the medical student population of 6,00,000 (including UG, PG and DB students), we would expect about 74 deaths by suicide annually among medical students,” the report said.

Speaking about the same, Prof. Dr.Vishal Akula, Professor and HOD , Department Of Psychiatry, Govt. Medical College, Jagtial, National Direct Council Member, Indian Psychiatric Society said,  “Stress and anxiety has always been there and I am sure those who pursued MBBS in the 70s, 80s and 90s too experienced it. I personally feel that somehow this generation of students forgot their innate ability to work hard in MBBS. Young medical students are simply not equipped with traits like stamina, sportiveness and positive attitude.

“After college hours, most of them spend hours in their hostel rooms watching online content on their Smartphones/laptops. There is no human interaction and social skills and faced with a crisis, they don’t know how to react,” she added.