PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY IN COLLEGE STUDENTS AND ILLITERATE YOUTHS

The profile of psychiatric morbidity in university students in a general hospital psychiatric clinic was studied and compared with age matched illiterate youths. Students represented 5.1% of the clinic population and illiterate youths represented 3.1%. The majority of ill students were males, unmarried and from a rural area. In both groups 75% of cases sought medical help on their own, but 42% of students solicited psychiatric help directly, in contrast to 11% of illiterate youths. Students reported relatively high role specific stress factors. In contrast to results of student surveys and university health centers, we found an equal representation of psychoses and non-psychoses, a lower representation of problems of under achievement and no representation of alcohol or drug abuse.