Does COVID-19 affect mental health? New study reveals why you might be depressed

Shocking details have emerged from the study suggesting that the priority should be given to dealing with mental health disorders among the survivors of COVID-19.

“In our most recent study, published in The BMJ, we conduct a comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the risks of mental health disorders in people with COVID-19 over a year. The results suggest that even those with contemporary controls are not at risk for mental health disorders. Compared to those who did not have COVID-19 but were exposed to the same adverse forces of the pandemic – including economic, social and other stressors – people with COVID-19 displayed an increased risk of mental health outcomes. versus a historical control group from a pre-pandemic era,” it said.

It is important to note that more than 403 million people globally and more than 77 million people in the US have been infected with the virus since the pandemic began.

“To put this in perspective, COVID-19 infections contribute to more than 14.8 million new cases of mental health disorders worldwide and more than 2.8 million new cases in the US,” said study senior author Ziyad al-Ali of the data. Referring to. Study.

“Our calculations do not account for the untold number of millions of people who suffer in silence because of mental health stigma or lack of resources or support,” said Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Washington.

The study further states that, “Mental health disorders represent a part of the multifaceted nature of chronic COVID that can affect almost every organ system (including the brain, heart and kidneys). Our results can be used to assess this risk. To promote awareness about people with COVID-19 and to guide efforts for early identification and treatment of affected persons.”

Researchers used data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ national health database to estimate the risks of mental health outcomes in people who lived at least 30 days after a positive PCR test result between March 2020 and January 2021. did.

They compared mental health outcomes in the COVID-19 dataset with those of two other groups infected with the virus: a control group of more than 5.6 million patients who did not have COVID-19 during the same time frame; and a control group of more than 5.8 million patients from March 2018 to January 2019, long before the pandemic began.

The majority of study participants were older white men. However, because of its large size, the study included more than 1.3 million women, more than 2.1 million black participants, and a large number of people of different ages.

The Covid-19 group was further divided into those who were or were not hospitalized during the acute phase of the infection. Information was also collected on potentially influencing factors including age, race, gender, lifestyle and medical history.

Researchers followed all three groups for a year to estimate the risks of predefined mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression and stress disorders, substance use disorders, neurological decline and sleep disorders. Compared to the non-infected control group, people with COVID-19 showed a 60% higher risk of any mental health diagnosis or prescription in one year.

When the researchers examined mental health disorders separately, they found that COVID-19 was associated with an additional 24 per 1,000 people with sleep disorders in a year, 15 per 1,000 with depressive disorders, with neurocognitive decline. was associated with 11 in 1,000, and 4 additional people per 1,000. Any substance use disorders.

Similar results were found when the COVID-19 group was compared with the historical control group. The risks were highest among those hospitalized during the early stages of COVID-19, but were also evident in those who were not hospitalised.