Anxiety and Depression: Effects of the Epidemic on Medical Students

The epidemic Due to Covid-19, which has been living all over the world for more than a year, it has afflicted several sectors of the population, especially medical students, whose road to the workplace has never been easy.

The study “Covid-19, Psychosocial Impact on Medical Students” by members of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, and applied to students from three different institutions in other countries, showed that 3% of them showed major depression and 24.5% severe anxiety.

Medical students, in general, are recognized as being of the population at risk for anxiety and depression worldwide. Firstly because they are students, secondly because they are young and thirdly because they belong to health fields, which is reflected in the current state of emergency with the increase in depression and anxiety in various universities around the world, ”stated in the study.

Of the 384 questionnaires analyzed, 61.3% reported an increase in moderate to severe anxiety, in addition to the fact that the following may be risk factors: being a student in a non-clinical classroom, being a woman, and having a test former. Mental illness and knowing someone with symptoms of Covid.

Among the other factors that made the placement of these students more difficult was the adjustment in the classroom, where a profession that should be practical was granted almost entirely online and workshops, lectures, and conferences were canceled by experts.

In addition, those who managed to graduate before the health crisis had to face professional practices in a completely new scenario, because in addition to the fact that they were not prepared to face the epidemic and the psychological burden it faced, they lived in it fear of illness and the injury of one of their relatives.

The institutions assessed are: Chang Zi University in China, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, and Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran.