ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1568455
This article is part of the Research TopicPublic Health Strategies to Improve Mental Health in the Education Sector: Perspectives and ApplicationsView all 17 articles
Mental Health Self-Medication in Psychiatry Residents: From Providing to Seeking Mental Health Care
Provisionally accepted
Diana Patricia Guizar1
María Yoldi-Negrete2
Carlos Alfonso Tovilla Zarate3
Tecelli Domínguez-Martínez4
Rebeca Robles-García4
Ana Fresan2*- 1Departamento de Fisiología de la Facultad de Medicina. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, México, Mexico
- 2Subdirección de Investigaciones Clínicas. Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñíz, Mexico City, Mexico
- 3División Académica Multidisciplinaria de Comalcalco, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Tabasco, Mexico
- 4Centro de Investigación en Salud Mental Global. Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, México, Mexico
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Objective: The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of self-medication among psychiatric residents with self-reported mental disorders, and to study the factors associated with self-medication. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted with psychiatry residents who answered an online survey. Variables were compared between psychiatry residents who do and do not self-medicate to treat selfreported mental health problems. Those that differed in the bivariate analyses were included in a multivariate logistic regression model to identify those associated with self-medication. Results: A total of 136 of the 330 psychiatry residents assessed comprised the final sample, 41.2% of which reported self-medication. Depression and anxiety were the most frequent mental health problems reported. Being verbally attacked (OR=4.4), being in the last years of residency (OR=4.2), being attacked by senior colleagues (OR=3.7) and higher perceived discrimination (OR=1.1) increased the risk for self-medication. Conversely, psychotherapy reduced the likelihood of self-medication (OR=0.2). Conclusion: Self-medication is a common practice among psychiatric residents with mental disorders in Mexico. It is a major concern in psychiatry residents as it can cause symptom aggravation due to subjective medication. Health and educational institutions must protect residents from the risks of this practice by addressing the associated factors.
Keywords: Psychiatry residents, self-medication, healthcare, Mental Health, Medical culture
Received: 29 Jan 2025; Accepted: 26 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guizar, Yoldi-Negrete, Tovilla Zarate, Domínguez-Martínez, Robles-García and Fresan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ana Fresan, Subdirección de Investigaciones Clínicas. Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñíz, Mexico City, Mexico
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