As countries world over battle the Covid-19 contagion, a new epidemic in the form of mental health disorder is on the anvil.
Researchers in the UK have found that one in three people infected with coronavirus later suffers symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), including depression and anxiety.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. The estimates are based on an analysis of multiple studies of SARS and MERS, two outbreaks caused by different strains of coronavirus, as well as the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on people in hospitals wherein they developed mental health disorders after an average of almost three years.
One in four people hospitalised with Covid-19 also experience delirium during their illness, which can increase risk of death or extend time in hospital, the researchers said in their study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.
While the long-term effects of Covid-19 were not addressed in the study, the effects of previous coronavirus outbreaks suggest long-lasting mental health problems. Overall, people infected by one of the many types of coronavirus may experience psychiatric problems, both while hospitalised and potentially after they recover.
“Most people with Covid-19 will not develop any mental health problems, even among those with severe cases requiring hospitalisation, but given the huge numbers of people getting sick, the global impact on mental health could be considerable,” said co-lead author of the study Dr Jonathan Rogers at the University College London (UCL) Division of Psychiatry.
“Our analysis focuses on potential mental health risks of being hospitalised with a virus infection, and how psychiatric conditions could worsen the prognosis or hold people back from returning to their normal lives after recovering.”
The team analysed 65 peer-reviewed studies and seven recent pre-prints that are awaiting peer review. These included data from more 3,500 people who have had one of the three related illnesses.
When data for patients with Covid-19 was examined, the scientists found evidence for delirium in 26 of 40 intensive care unit patients and more mild symptoms of agitation in 40 of 58 intensive care unit patients.
‘To avoid a large-scale mental health crisis, we hope that people who have been hospitalised with Covid-19 will be offered support, and monitored after they recover to ensure they do not develop mental illnesses…,’ senior author professor Anthony David, UCL Institute of Mental Health said.
The study does have limitations, however — findings from the SARS and MERS outbreaks may not be applicable to Covid-19, considering how much bigger the new disease is in terms of death rates and disruption to day-to-day lives.
Indians too have been mentally affected with the lockdown. A survey conducted by the Indian Psychiatry Society (IPS) last month revealed that there has been a 20 per cent rise in mental illness cases, with at least one in five Indians suffering from it.