High Levels Of Stress Causing Anxiety Amongst Medical Students

The medical students undergo tremendous stress and mental pressure during their academic life and clinicalstudies. The high level of anxiety and depression among medical students is very common occurrence combinedwith the academic pressure that has a severe impact on their mental and physical health. The current study aimsto explore various articles presented by scholars in the field of analysing the impact of stress causing anxietyand depression in medical students and evaluating its impact on prevalence of depression among medicalstudents. This study critically analyses and reviews articles published in this decade for analysing the role ofdepression and anxiety and experiences of medical students and the reaction to stress. The central idea of thestudy understands different perspectives presented by scholars in the field of stress and anxiety and its prevalence among the medical students highlighting the causes and key issues. This is vital for understanding thecritical factors affecting the mental health and physical well-being of the medical students in order to derivesuggestions for early identification and providing for support by the medical schools. The study had usedelectronic databases for rummaging and reviewing literature articles published on stress and other psychological determinants among medical students and management of stress. In the current study, data were extractedthrough reviewing various related research articles focusing more on the prevalence and suggest possible stressmanagement strategies in medical students. The current study focuses on findings and views of different scholars with stress as an epicentre of discussion and other factors such as environmental factors, social andeconomic factors and so on that directly or indirectly impacts on the medical student’s mental health. Thepurpose of the study to analyse the research articles to acknowledge the quantum of research done in the fieldof understanding the causes and impact of stress and depression among medical students and mark the areaswhere further research can be conducted

Effectiveness of Benson’s Relaxation Therapy on Reduction of Stress among Primigravid Mothers.

Objectives: The study attempt to assess the effectiveness of Benson’s relaxation therapy on reduction of stress among primigravid mothers attending the outpatient department in a selected hospital at Kannur, with the objectives of evaluating the stress among the primigravid mothers before and after the Benson’s relaxation therapy and to associate the level of stress with selected demographic variables. Methods: A total of 30 primigravid mothers after third month of gestation were selected for the study. The information regarding background data were collected from the primigravid mothers by self-administered rating scale and the level of hemoglobin status was noted from the health records. Selected primigravid mothers were given pretest questionnaire and Benson’s relaxation therapy was administered to all group members for 20 minutes and instructed to continue this for a period of 15 days. Post-test using rating scale was conducted 15 days after the administration of Benson’s relaxation therapy. Result: The result of the study shows that the post-test mean stress score was less than the pre-test mean stress score. The obtained mean difference between the pre-test and post-test regarding stress score was statistically significant. Hence research hypothesis “there will be a significant difference in the stress scores before and after Benson’s relaxation therapy among the primigravid mothers” has been retained. Conclusions: It was inferred that primigravid mothers who practiced Benson’s relaxation therapy had significant decrease in post-test stress score. Also there was significant association with the level of stress and some demographic variables.

Catha edulis deteriorates spatial working memory in rats, but spares reference memory.

The effects of Catha edulis, a CNS stimulant, on humans and animals have been studied on various aspects like anorectic effect, self-administration, stereotyped behavior, aggressive behavior, operant task, locomotor sensitization, psychosis etc., but how C.edulis influence spatial learning and memory in rats is not clear. C.edulis contains amphetamine like substances, which enhances spatial learning and memory. So, we hypothesize C.edulis will also influence spatial learning and memory. In the aim to assess this effect of C.edulis, a comparative study is conceded using another CNS stimulant, methylphenidate (MPD), which is currently used, for treatment of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), instead of amphetamine. Spatial learning and memory was assessed using radial arm maze, by analyzing five dependent measures obtained on every trial: time to complete a trial, latency to first arm entry, number of reference memory errors, number of working memory correct and incorrect errors. Our results show that C.edulis and not MPD fed rats had impaired learning and memory, implicated by increased time to complete a trial. But both C.edulis and MPD increased attention in rats, as in both groups latency to first arm entry was less. Further analysis showed that C.edulis fed rats were more effected in the working memory component and reference memory was intact. These results highlight the importance of restricting the widespread use of C.edulis in humans. The use of MPD as a choice of drug in treatment of ADHD is also supported by this study as it did not deteriorate the learning and memory, in spite of increased attention and alertness. These results are further discussed on the basis of differential action of C.edulis and MPD on neurotransmitter systems of brain, and this reveals the need for detailed analysis in future studies for the effect of C.edulis on hippocampal network.

Evaluation of allocentric spatial learning in rats using a novel “Alternated Dual Task”.

Allocentric spatial learning can be assessed using popular spontaneous alternation behaviour (SAB) tested with T-maze, and also using radial arm maze (RAM) tasks. But the SAB testing has been reported to have lack of validity as a measure of retention, especially when used as a measure of short term memory. A more complex dual alternated task was designed to clarify whether increasing novelty and alternation factors in a task will increase or decrease the short term and long term memory in rats. Rats were made to learn both T-maze spontaneous alternation task and RAM task alternatively. Another group of rats were made to learn both the task separately without any alternation. And control group of rats were assigned to learn only one type of task. It was found that the group of rats performing “alternated dual task” could acquire the tasks more easily than the control groups and non alternated dual task groups. This enhancement of acquisition was associated only with the complex task (RAM task) among the dual tasks. More over their retention (memory) ability was very significantly enhanced for both the tasks in dual tasks. It can be concluded that, the principle of “alternated dual task” can be made use when a complex task has to be acquired and learned faster by rats; as alternation with simple task enhances the ability of rats to learn and memorize a complex task more efficiently.