Ragging in medical colleges does not happen only because of the senior-junior culture. A deeper reason is the growing mental-health crisis among medical students. Many seniors face intense stress, emotional exhaustion, and depression, and this unresolved pressure often converts into aggressive behaviour toward juniors.
Medical Students Face Extreme Academic and Emotional Pressure
Medical students deal with a heavy workload every day. They study long hours, attend postings, prepare for internal exams, and constantly worry about falling behind. Many students also live away from home for the first time, which increases loneliness and emotional strain.
Surveys from leading institutions show that a large percentage of MBBS students show signs of stress, depression, or burnout by the second year. This stressful environment becomes the background in which seniors develop aggressive or unstable behaviour.
Stress Turns Into Anger That Gets Released on Juniors
A common psychological reaction to stress is displaced aggression. When students cannot express frustration toward teachers, exams, or family expectations, they unknowingly release it on someone who is less powerful.
In medical colleges, juniors become the safest target. Seniors who feel overwhelmed by academics often use dominance over juniors as an emotional outlet. This is one of the major reasons ragging continues despite strict rules.
Join NEET News 2025 The “I Suffered, So You Must Suffer” Cycle Repeats Trauma
Many seniors experienced ragging themselves when they were juniors. Instead of healing from the trauma, they normalise it. They begin to believe that ragging is a tradition or a “rite of passage.”
When they finally become seniors, they repeat the same behaviour to feel powerful or to compensate for their earlier humiliation. This creates a continuous cycle of emotional pain that passes from one batch to another.
Read Also: NMC Anti-Ragging Bill 2025: Do You Know Rights of 1st year MBBS Students?
Exhaustion Makes Seniors Irritable and Emotionally Unstable
Burnout is extremely common among medical students due to the constant pressure of exams, clinical duties, and the fear of failure. Burnout causes irritability, anger, emotional numbness, and a lack of empathy.
Seniors who are mentally exhausted often lose control of their emotions. As a result, even small misunderstandings turn into aggression, and ragging becomes a way for them to release frustration.
Emotional Education Is Missing in Medical Colleges
Medical students learn about anatomy, physiology, and pathology, but almost nothing about their own mental well-being. Very few colleges offer structured emotional education such as stress-management training, coping strategies, or mental-health awareness sessions.
Without these tools, students cannot identify or handle their negative emotions. Seniors who do not understand their own mental condition are more likely to behave aggressively.
Hostel Environment Intensifies Stress and Aggression
Most ragging happens in hostels, where there is no direct supervision from teachers or parents. Many students feel isolated, and seniors often control common areas, rooms, and hostel culture. A stressed senior in a group environment becomes even more aggressive because peer pressure encourages dominance. This makes the hostel a hotspot for emotional outbursts and bullying.
Lack of Counsellors Allows Mental Distress to Spread Unchecked
Most medical colleges do not have full-time counsellors, professional mental-health units, or regular psychological check-ups. Students who suffer from depression or anxiety never receive help.
Their emotional distress keeps increasing until it turns into anger, irritability, or aggressive behaviour. Without counselling, seniors continue to express their internal struggles in unhealthy ways, which often includes ragging juniors.
Also Read: MBBS First-Year 2025: 10 Things to Know About Anti-Ragging Laws & How to Stay Confident?
Mental-Health Stigma Makes Students Hide Their Depression
Many medical students avoid seeking help because they fear being judged as weak, unstable, or unfit for the profession. There is a deep stigma around mental health in Indian medical colleges.
As a result, seniors who are depressed hide their symptoms instead of seeking treatment. The emotional pressure keeps building until it spills into their interactions with juniors, sometimes in the form of harsh behaviour or violent ragging.
Severe Depression Can Reduce Empathy and Increase Cruel Behaviour
Depression is not always silent sadness. In many cases, it leads to coldness, irritability, and a loss of emotional sensitivity. When seniors lose empathy due to prolonged emotional distress, they may not realise the impact of their actions.
Some may even use ragging as a way to feel in control when everything else in their life feels unstable. This shows how untreated depression can directly contribute to harmful behaviour.
Strong Mental-Health Systems Can Reduce Ragging Significantly
If medical colleges focus on mental health, ragging can be reduced drastically. Colleges need full-time counsellors, confidential support helplines, and monthly mental-wellness sessions. Emotional-education modules should be introduced to teach students healthy coping mechanisms.
NMC must also conduct mental-health audits and enforce stricter psychological-support systems. When seniors receive emotional support, they are much less likely to express their stress through aggression.
Ragging is not only a disciplinary issue. It is a clear sign of a deeper mental-health crisis among medical students. Many seniors behave aggressively because they are silently struggling with stress, trauma, and depression.
Until medical colleges treat the emotional well-being of students as seriously as academics, ragging will continue despite the strict Supreme Court and NMC guidelines. The only way to stop ragging is to address the mental-health needs behind it.
