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Psychiatrists have said that many COVID-19 survivors are likely to be at increased risk of developing mental illness, after a large study found that 20% of those infected with the coronavirus are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within the 90 days.
Among the COVID-19 patients who participated in the study, anxiety, depression, and insomnia were the most common mental health problems that patients developed. Although the researchers found significantly higher risks for dementia, a brain-impairing condition.
The study, which was published in The Lancet Psychiatry, analyzed the electronic medical records of 69 million people in the United States, including more than 62,000 cases of COVID-19.
In the three months after testing positive for COVID-19, 1 in 5 survivors were recorded as having a first-time diagnosis of anxiety, depression, or insomnia. This was about twice as likely as for other groups of patients in the same period, the researchers said.
The study also found that people with a pre-existing mental illness were 65% more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than those without it.
Mental health specialists who were not directly involved in the study said their findings add to growing evidence that COVID-19 can affect the brain and mind, increasing the risk of a variety of psychiatric illnesses.
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