Though discussion of COVID-19 usually revolves around the physical ailments caused by the virus, it carries layers of risk for mental health as well.
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, calls to helplines around the world increased by 35 percent and mental health declined for scientific researchers, according to two recent studies. At the same time, the virus has impacted those suffering with mental disorders at greater rates than those without diagnoses.
According to a study published last month in the World Psychiatry journal, individuals with a recent diagnosis of a mental disorder – especially depression and schizophrenia – were at an increased risk for COVID-19 infection. These rates were even higher for African Americans and women with mental health disorders. Both death and hospitalization rates were higher for individuals with recent diagnoses of mental health disorders, said the study.
“We analyzed a nation-wide database of electronic health records of 61 million adult patients from 360 hospitals and 317,000 providers, across 50 states in the US, up to July 29, 2020,” according to the study authors.
Another study of 1,685 patients published this year in the JAMA journal also found that the risk of death from COVID-19 was significantly greater among patients with a psychiatric disorder.
People with mental disorders could be at a higher risk for infection, death and hospitalization from COVID-19 due to multiple factors. Some of these are: challenges in appraising health information and complying with preventive behaviors, limitations in access to health care, homelessness or living in congregate settings and the higher prevalence of comorbid medical conditions, according to the World Psychiatry study.
Isolation and certain medications can also contribute to increased risk of illness, said Dr. Ashwin Vasan, who is president and CEO of Fountain House, a mental health nonprofit, according to NPR.
“There have been study after study showing that it leads to inflammation, immunologic stress, neurodegenerative decline, immunologic impairment, endocrinological impairment,” said Vasan of isolation. He said people with mental illness are one of the most isolated groups in our society.
Additionally, he said that while antipsychotics used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia can help control mental health symptoms, the medications are also associated with a higher risk of diabetes, hypertension and metabolic diseases.
According to the World Psychiatry study, mental disorders are estimated to affect 20-25 percent of the adult population worldwide and around 47 million adults in the U.S. The study also said rates of people with mental health disorders likely increased during the pandemic, during which many people were isolated, lost loved ones or both.
A study of 8 million calls to helplines in 19 countries and regions published last week in the Nature journal found that call volumes increased during the first wave of the pandemic last year. Earlier this month, the journal said that the pandemic “seriously dented the productivity and mental health of researchers, according to two studies that surveyed scientists in Europe and the United States.”
“The worst may be yet to come,” said network-science researcher Dashun Wang at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., who led a study that involved two polls of a total of nearly 7,000 principal investigators, conducted nine months apart.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on our lives.
Many of us are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions in adults and children,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Public health actions, such as social distancing, are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but they can make us feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, and those around you become more resilient.”
According to the CDC, some ways to reduce stress include: taking breaks from reading pandemic-related media, stretching, mediation, keeping a healthy diet, regular exercise, getting enough sleep, avoiding excess alcohol, tobacco, or substance use, relaxing, connecting with others and virus prevention methods such as vaccination.
As of last Friday, the CDC recommends booster shots for all people who received Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago.
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