27 Percent of Medical Students Are Depressed And Suicidal According To Study; Depression Common Amongst Students Global Trend

Medical students globally are more likely to experience depression with chances of being suicidal, according to a recent study. The research has found out that more than a quarter of medical students may be suffering from depression and has a tendency to commit suicide.

A research has analyzed that 27 percent of medical students in 47 countries around the world were found out to have symptoms of depression, while one out of ten or 11 percent of the medical students are having suicidal thoughts. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The research was conducted in about 129,000 medical students coming from 47 different countries globally. However, the study has found out that only 16 percent of the students suffering from depression are willing to undergo treatment.

Medical students were also found out to be two to five times more prone to depression which may result to being suicidal, Time reports. The report also quoted the study author saying that the result of the study is quite paradoxical, considering that their case studies were medical students and should have known that they are already going through depression.

The study has also found out that the depression rate on medical students does not differ whether they are still in medical school and when they practice their profession in the field. The same team made a study last year regarding depression rate on medical students in the field and found out that 27 percent of the case studies were more likely to be depressed.

On the other hand, CNN also reports that according to Dr. Douglas Mata, the author of the study, people should not look depression as a psychiatric illness since they are also considered as a medical illness. Dr. Mata also added that the brain, just like any other organs a human body has, can also have its own problem.