OBJECTIVES: Depression is among the most common and serious mental disorder afflicting nearly 350 million people worldwide. During it's worst form, it is considered as the major contributor to suicides which is ranked second in most leading causes of deaths among 15-29 years’ age group. This study was aimed to determine the depression and its causes among students of pharmacy.

METHODS: A cross-sectional and observational study was conducted during 10th March, 2017 to 28th May, 2017 among pharmacy students of public sector universities of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. extended from. The modified Back Depression Inventory (BDI-II) tool comprises of 30 items was administered among pharmacy students by using convenient sampling approach. The tool was undergone face and content validation. Rasoft software was used for sample size calculation.

RESULTS: The study was conducted on 387 pharmacy students having 130 (33.6%) male and 237 (66.4%) female students. The mean age of participating students was 22.70± CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted alarming level of depression among pharmacy students of public sector universities which could affect their learning process. Periodic cycles of counselling are urgent requirement during the complete course of pharmacy education.