Abstract
Objective: Establish the relationship between the use of hypnotics and sedatives and the development of complaints associated with mood changes in medical students at a private university in Sergipe. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a quali-quantitative analytical approach, conducted with 281 medical students from a university in Sergipe. The use of these substances was assessed by applying a questionnaire created for this purpose. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of the R Core Team 2020 software and the level of significance adopted was 5%. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Results: In a total of 281 students, 38.1% have already used hypnotics and sedatives, the majority being female, and the main motivating factor for use was stress. 56.1% reported a previous diagnosis of anxiety and 27.1% reported previous depression. Regarding the development of mood complaints after using these drugs, 38.3% reported being depressed or uninterested in daily activities and 50.5% reported excessive fear, anxiety and worry. Conclusion: The relationship between the consumption of hypnotics-sedatives and the emergence of mood changes associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms became evident.