NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Twenty percent of COVID patients develop mental illness within 90 days of their diagnosis, according to a new study by psychiatrists in the U.K.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, found COVID survivors often experienced anxiety, depression and insomnia and had an increased risk of dementia, Reuters reported.
As part of the study, researchers at Oxford University examined the electronic health records of 69 million in the U.S.—records that included more than 62,000 cases of COVID.
According to the study, patients who had tested positive for COVID were about twice as likely as other patients to be diagnosed with a mental health issue like anxiety over a 90-day period.
“People have been worried that COVID-19 survivors will be at greater risk of mental health problems, and our findings ... show this to be likely,” Oxford psychiatry professor Paul Harrison told Reuters.
Researchers also found patients with a pre-existing mental illness were more likely to receive a COVID diagnosis.
The chief executive of SANE told Reuters that her U.K.-based mental health charity has seen an increasing number of people calling its helpline amid the pandemic, including “first-time callers who are being triggered into mental health problems, as well as those who are relapsing because their fear and anxiety have become intolerable.”