The medical career can trigger pathological changes in mental health that may even begin during undergraduate medical training. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders (MPD) and the search for counseling by medical students. This was a cross-sectional study of a sample of 343 1st to 4th-year medical students 18 years and older. Interviews were conducted in the classroom using two structured questionnaires, the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) and another prepared by the authors. Descriptive, univariate and bivariate analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel. Among students with MPD, 41.6% lived alone and 75.0% were women. Among the ill, 59.2% were unfamiliar with any counseling program, and only 9.1% sought help. Medication for PMD was twice as prevalent in females as compared to males (with antidepressants and anxiolytics as the most frequently used medicines). The 26.1% prevalence rate of students with MPD, plus the frequent self-medication and low demand for professional care, demonstrated the ineffectiveness of current psychological support programs.
Mental health; Medical students; Self medication
