Dr Payal Tadvi refused help, fearing more bullying by seniors

Fearing further stigmatisation Dr Payal Tadvi refused to seek psychiatric help to ease the anxiety and sleeplessness she was suffering from after being allegedly harassed by her seniors a secondyear student who resided on the same hostel floor as her has revealed The student said Dr Tadvi was scared of being tagged as a psychiatric patient by the seniors and thought they might use the tag to cite her as unfit for the courseThe secondyear student said She was extremely anxious and also had trouble sleeping The workload and the harassment had taken a toll on her mental health We had advised her to consult with the hospitals department of psychiatry But she was scared of being tagged as someone with a mental disorder by seniorsHad she taken helpmidday has previously reported about how the seniors were not letting her participate in any deliveries and shouting at her in front of patients and juniors for no fault of hers Because of this the student said Dr Payal was scared that if the three accused Hema Ahuja Ankita Khandelwal and Bhakti Mehare got to know that she sought counselling they would have taken the opportunity to prove that she was unfit to pursue an MD in gynaecologyDr Payal TadviSeeking psychiatric help is still stigmatised even among medical students So she couldnt approach the inhouse psychiatric help and she didnt have time to seek help in private Had she taken help from the psychiatric department she would have survived said another batch mate from her departmentAlso read Mumbai doctors suicide Yet to find caste angle in Dr Payal Tadvis case say policePG students anxietyDr Tadvi was not alone in feeling that way According to a study this is the case with almost all medical students across the state The study titled Stress Among Doctors Doing Residency A CrossSectional Study At A Tertiary Care Hospital In The City Of Mumbai published in 2015 in the National Journal of Community Medicine had suggested counselling and social support could help improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the postgraduation doctorsThe report also stated anxiety is the highest among postgraduation students in their first year While the stress level for first year students was at 462 per cent it was 292 per cent for second year students and 362 per cent for third year students The average stress level among all 273 respondents was 373 per cent Dr S R Suryawanshi head of the department of community medicine was also a part of this studyA 2007 study conducted on medical students at Nair hospital revealed that 5137 per cent of the surveyed students suffered from stress while 6605 per cent had been diagnosed with anxiety and 3944 per cent had depression This study was published in The Indian Journal of Occupational TherapyAlso read Mumbai doctors suicide How were three accused first to find Dr Payal Tadvis body ask copsSeeking help outsideSeveral medical students who suffer from anxiety and depression refuse to take psychiatric help fearing stigmatisation They prefer private psychiatric clinics Dr Sagar Mundada a citybased psychiatrist concurred Its true that medical students also stigmatize psychiatric counselling even though they need it on a regular basis There is always pressure on medical students which often makes them vulnerable to depression anxiety and stress But they are too scared to seek counselling inside the hospital So either they dont approach doctors or even if they do they go outside to private clinics On a monthly basis I get around 1015 medical students seeking counselling due to stress he addedBMC to strengthen antiragging committeeAfter corporators slammed the BMC in the Dr Payal Tadvi case for failing to strengthen the antiragging committee in civic medical colleges civic chief Praveen Pardeshi said during a general body meeting on Friday that they have taken strict cognizance of the matter and suspended the people concerned He also said the antiragging committee will be strengthened and necessary steps will be taken to ensure such incidents do not take place Meanwhile Rais Shaikh the Samajwadi Party group leader in BMC said there is an urgent need to bring reforms in the current working pattern of doctors in the civic hospitals Hed also written to the commissioner earlier this week regarding the issueAlso readMumbai doctors suicide Dr Payal Tadvi thought of suicide in NovemberCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates