Close on the heels of World Mental Health Day which is on Monday, health experts have said that the pandemic has taken a heavy toll not only on the physical health of people but also on their mental well-being.
“A significant proportion of patients in India who survived acute Covid-19 in the last three years are now suffering from some type of mental disorder, with depression and anxiety being the most common, '' said Dr. Vikas Gaur, Head of the Psychiatry Department at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.
To corroborate his point, Dr Gaur cited his recent research conducted among people from the general population who suffered from Covid in the last two to three years. It revealed that about 50 percent of them are now suffering from mental symptoms of some kind such as depression or anxiety.
“About 26 percent of people who were ill with Covid are now suffering from sleep disorders and an equal number from anger-related issues. Sadly, there is also a substantial rise in the onset of new cases of psychosis, a trend not seen earlier.”
Dr. Gaur said many Covid-19 survivors are now seeking medical help for cognitive problems related to memory and concentration, which was not seen in the pre-Covid times. “Elderly people above the age of 60 years are especially affected. About 50 percent of them are now reporting symptoms of significant anxiety, compared to only 2-3 percent before the pandemic,” he said.
Dr Rajendra Prasad, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon & Spine Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi talked about a wide group of mental disorders including a lot of conditions including neurodevelopmental disorders which is present in childhood, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, depression which affects anxiety disorders, OCD which affects so many young adults and middle-aged people.
“Then there is trauma-related head injury Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, and it may include eating disorders for which treatment may be required. And then to a large percentage of patients, almost 20 per cent of the population which is elderly, some of them would suffer from neurocognitive disorders and neurodegenerative disorders resulting in conditions like dementia and Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders,” he added.
“So we have to focus our efforts towards creating facilities and to a large extent, this will be government-given facilities such as wide spectrum age groups of patients right from childhood to the very senior citizens for a whole lot of disorders for which enough attention has not been paid. And hence people have to seek out-of-pocket treatment,” Dr. Prasad pointed out.
Also, there are no long-term neuro-rehabilitation centers available in India that would cover all the needs of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, mental health disorder treatment like counseling and more importantly support for family members and care-givers, Dr Prasad rued.