ACADEMIC AND PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS AMONG NOVICE AYURVEDA STUDENTS IN KERALA: A COMPARISON OF STUDENT AND FACULTY PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Stress is a widespread and well-documented challenge for undergraduate students worldwide, with consequences for mental health and academic performance. College-level stressors commonly include Academic overload, insufficient study time, low motivation, pressure from family,[1] adjustment to a new learning environment and competing social/financial demands — factors that together increase anxiety and reduce relaxation, satisfaction and well-being. Along with other major sources of stress, fear of failure is especially prevalent among undergraduate students.[2]

Since stress is the perceived imbalance between the demands encountered in daily life and a person’s ability to respond to them, medical students experience stress when curricular demands exceed their available resources[3]. They have been reported to suffer from higher levels of perceived stress compared to the general population and students in other academic fields. Ayurveda undergraduate students face particular pressures because they need to deal with a complex curriculum that combines classical Ayurveda in Sanskrit with modern biomedical sciences and clinical skills. Studies among Ayurveda students report that more than 80% perceive moderate-to-high levels of stress.[4] The discipline-specific features make it important to study stress in novice Ayurveda student cohorts rather than assuming findings from general university populations directly apply. There is a need to focus on the early detection of stress among novice ayurveda students and explore the measures to reduce it and to achieve high academic, clinical outcomes.