Frequency of depression, anxiety and stress in physiotherapy students and their coping strategies

Introduction – The number of students being affected with mental health disorders is on a rise in our country. Early detection and management can be easily achieved at the institutional level. Objectives – The objectives of this study were to find the number of students that are affected with depression, anxiety and or stress and to discern the methods used by them for coping with the same. Methodology – 412 students from various colleges across the city were administered with two questionnaires, a self-made questionnaire on coping strategies and DASS-21. Data was analysed and descriptive statistics was obtained. Result – Out of the 412 students that participated in the study, 53% were stressed 64% were anxious and 65% were depressed. When dealing with stress, maximum number of students claim to miss college as their go to method, while less than 7% take help from professionals or mentors. Conclusion – A large number of students have their mental health far from normal and the student’s expectations from the institutes with regards to promotion of better mental health must be taken into consideration to correct the maladaptive coping.