Abstract
Introduction: Depression is a common mental disorder among medical students, with prevalence rates reaching up to 39.3 %. Students may also have associated clinical symptoms such as anxiety, sleep problems, and suicide risk. Therefore, it is necessary to create programs to meet the mental health needs of medical students. Objective. Determine the effectiveness of Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) in reducing depressive and associated symptoms in medical students. Method. This study included 17 patients who received 10 BATD sessions, and compared levels of depression, anxiety, sleep quality and suicide risk before and after treatment. Results. Statistically significant differences were found at post intervention in depression (p < .001), stress (p < .001), anxiety (p < .001), sleep quality (p < .001) and suicide risk (p = .007), most of the participants did not show clinically significant symptoms of depression or other mental disorder after the BATD treatment. Discussion and conclusion. The 10 sessions of BATD demonstrated effectiveness in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep quality issues, and suicidal risk among medical students, suggesting it may be a promising treatment for depression in vulnerable populations.
