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Many of those who have been ill with COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing mental illness, according to a large study published in the renowned The Lancet Psychiatry.
The researchers found that 20 percent of those infected with coronavirus were diagnosed with a mental illness within 90 days.
Anxiety, depression, and insomnia were the most common psychological side effects, but the researchers also found a significantly increased risk of dementia among patients after coronavirus disease.
– Probable
– People have been concerned that those who survive COVID have a higher risk of having mental problems. Our findings show that this is likely, says Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford in the UK, according to the Reuters news agency.
He emphasizes the need for research to now investigate causation and identify new treatments for mental disorders after COVID-19.
The researchers behind the study have analyzed data from the electronic medical records of 69 million people in the United States.
The study includes more than 62,000 cases of covid-19.
Within three months of a positive test result for coronavirus disease, 1 in 5 patients were first diagnosed with anxiety, depression or insomnia.
This was about twice as likely as for other groups of patients in the same period, according to the researchers.
Similar findings
The study also found that people with a pre-existing mental illness were 65 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19 than people without mental health problems.
“This is likely due to a combination of psychological stressors associated with this particular pandemic and the physical effects of the disease,” said psychiatrist Michael Bloomfield of University College London.
Psychiatry professor Simon Wessely at King’s College London notes that researchers’ findings indicating that people with mental illness are at increased risk for COVID-19 fit well with similar findings from previous infectious disease outbreaks.
– Covid-19 affects the central nervous system and therefore can directly increase subsequent disorders. But this study confirms that it is not the whole story and that this risk is increased by previous poor health, says Wessely.
– interesting
The Norwegian Health Directorate believes that studies of the psychological effects of COVID-19 are as important as studies of the somatic effects of coronavirus disease.
– So this is an interesting post, says Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad to Dagbladet.
Nakstad notes that it is not surprising that people who have been ill with COVID-19, and especially those who have been hospitalized, have repercussions in the form of depression and mental illness.
– It is important to know the extent of this, so that the follow-up is the best possible afterwards. It is probably also the case that both the psychological effects of the pandemic and the physical effects of getting sick affect the mental health of many, Nakstad says.
