Citation

Kar SK, Rai S, Sharma N, Singh A. Indian J. Psychol. Med. 2021; 43(2): 183-185.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Indian Psychiatric Society, South Zone, Publisher Medknow Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0253717620978585

PMID

34376900

Abstract

The National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate students is a highly competitive examination conducted by the National Testing Agency for admission to medical schools in India. In the year 2020, approximately 1.6 million students registered for nearly 1 lakh Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Dental Surgery seats.1 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was uncertainty related to the conduct of examination, and the exam dates got postponed multiple times. The competition itself is quite stressful, and the uncertainty over the exam dates added to the students' miseries.2 Too much uncertainty evokes anxiety and also affects the preparedness to face challenges adversely. The inability to handle performance pressure, meet parental expectations, and achieve aspirations may lead to psychological distress and subsequent suicidal behavior. Before the examination, multiple instances of suicide by students who anticipated failure were reported from different parts of the country.3,4 Clustering of suicide may happen as there are places, such as Kota, Thrissur, and Chennai, which are popular hubs of competitive coaching examinations where students often go to prepare for the NEET examination.

In this context, we would like to report findings from our evaluation of the news articles, published online between January 2018 and September 2020, that discussed students' suicide in relation to the NEET examination...

Language: en