O uso de medicamentos psicotrópicos por estudantes de medicina da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande.

Abstract

The use of psychotropic medications by the general population has increased over the years, due to several factors triggering mental illness in contemporary times plus abuse and self-medication. Among the medical scholars, largely young people who deal with various ills and external and internal pressures, this reality is not different. Due to this, the study sought to delineate quantitatively the use of psychotropic drugs among the medical students of the Federal University of Campina Grande, as well as to understand some data about such use, such as indication, prescriber, joint treatment with psychologists, some data on the population studied, such as gender, city of origin before starting college, and a sketch of factors that could record mental illness throughout the twelve semesters of the course. For this, a self-administered questionnaire and simple statistical analysis of the data collected were used. The sample consisted of 354 students, from the first to the second semester, with 172 males and 182 females. A prevalence of 30% of psychotropic use among students was observed, more frequent among women and among students of the last semesters, with antidepressants being the drugs most frequently cited. Most students who have never used psychotropic drugs believe they have needed expert help because of factors such as anxiety, stress, and depressed mood; however, the majority said that they did not seek help. It is concluded that the use of psychotropics among medical students of the Federal University of Campina Grande is high, and that measures of mental health promotion of this population should be taken by the academic community.