Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Doctors in the city have welcomed the decision of the National Medical Commission (NMC) to conduct an online survey on mental health status of students and teachers in medical colleges of the country.
They, however, say that much would depend on the follow-up action on the basis of the outcome of the survey. A National Task Force constituted by the Central government will prepare a report on the basis of the responses to the survey. The names of the respondents will not be revealed. Very long working hours, excessive working load, tough and long syllabus and taboo associated with seeking professional help for mental problems are among the key reasons for growing suicides among students of medicine.
According to consultant psychiatrist Dr Satyakant Trivedi, due to taboos associated with seeking help for mental problems, the students do not approach professionals. The general public does not approach psychiatrists because of lack of awareness. The medicos, however, are aware but don’t take steps to solve the problem because of the taboos, he said. The idea of a survey is good, but there is a need to reduce the distance between the teachers and the students, says mind doctor, Dr Ruma Bhattacharya , adding that the students are so fearful of the teachers that they are not able to share their problems with them.
Psychiatrist Dr RN Sahu said that the MBBS course is quite tough, teaching standards have gone down and competition has increased, which is leading to growing stress among the students. Moreover, despite all the talk about teaching medicine through Hindi medium, primarily, English is used in the classrooms which creates extra stress for students from rural areas and have limited knowledge of English, Sahu added.
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