Level of Perceived Stress and Coping Mechanisms among MBBS Students at Government Medical College: A Prospective Observational Study from Delhi

strategies that humans use to reduce, tolerate, and master stressful situations. 7These strategies are broadly divided into problem-focused and emotion-focused.The goal of problemfocused strategies is to alter the circumstance by planning, skill development, or problem-solving, whereas emotion-focused strategies, on the contrary, aim to alter the stressful emotion itself IntroductIonStress, according to Lazarus, is caused by an individual's belief that they lack the resources to deal with a perceived circumstance from the past, present, or future. 1 Academic, psychosocial, and health-related stressors are the three most common sources of stress in medical colleges. 2Academic stressors, especially tests/ exams, were identified as the most common source of stress for all students. 3Throughout this time, students should gain sufficient professional knowledge, competency, and attitudes to equip themselves to deal with lifelong professional difficulties on their own.Extensive learning and rigorous training can harm a student's physical and mental health by causing reduced focus, decreased attention, the desire to cheat on tests, sleeping issues, substance misuse, and unacceptable social conduct. 4Chronic stress can reduce productivity and could lead to a serious public health problem.Stress in medical students is much higher when compared to engineering students, as revealed in a study conducted by Waghachavare et al. 5 Another study in Canada by Rahimi et al. 6 found that stress among medical students was higher compared to the general population.To reduce, accept, and manage these stressful situations, humans frequently employ different coping mechanisms.Coping mechanisms are the psychological, emotional, and/or behavioral 1,