August 2015
Medical Students’ Mental Health Maroua Ben Jouira
Associa-Med - Tunisia Medical Faculty of Tunis benjouiramaroua.mbj@gmail.com
“Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.” - Bill Clinton. Medical students, live in an environment overloaded with stressful situations; we work under pressure from our seniors, face the fear of failure as well as the great expectations that we – and society – set for ourselves, and are burdened by the massive curriculum we need to master. Yet, we rarely hear the words “mental disorders” and “medical students” used in the same sentence. There seems to be no back-up system for medical students in Tunisia: depression is treated as a taboo and seeking help is seen as a sign of weakness. Our project, Medical Students’ Mental Health, aims to (1) promote mental health across medical schools in Tunisia, (2) fight against the stigma surrounding the field of psychiatry, (3) improve the quality of everyday life for medical students, and (4) screen students for the risks of developing serious mental disorders. We are also working to establish a center dedicated to support medical students and their development; such a center will nurture student’s personalities by improving their life skills through trainings, and helping those facing difficulties through interactions with peers, professors and psychiatrists.
www.ifmsa.org
/ifmsa
@ifmsa
As an active member of Associa-Med Tunisia, and as a medical student who sought help when things got rough, a student who is not ashamed to speak up about mental health, I stand by such a project, which can save lives. At first, it was essential for us to have an overview of the current situation, see what stresses a Tunisian medical student, and build up our plan accordingly. We sent out an anonymous survey with short- and long-term objectives. We then moved to promoting mental health and advertising our newly born center, which would eventually address students’ personal development and mental well-being, tackling subjects like psychosis, anxiety, self-expression, sexuality, etc… Our launching conference was the first pillar, on which the center will stand and continue its work for years. It’s certainly a challenging project that not only requires a lot of human resources, but also depends on it. Follow-up is crucial in order to improve and to stay up to date. Students who attended this conference, along with those who prepared for the creation of this center, have learned quite a lot about mental health. It’s safe to say that they feel more secure knowing that help is given to those who need – and seek – it. They realized the importance of mental health, the need to speak up about it, and to face the stigma surrounding it.