A new study has found that people who have recovered from COVID-19 are 40% more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety or abuse drugs. Scientists have suggested a link between infection with coronavirus and mental health. Those who contracted the virus were at greater risk of depression and sleep problems.
A large US study found that COVID survivors are at increased risk for depression, sleep problems and drug abuse.
According to the Daily Mail, a growing body of research links the victory over the coronavirus to ongoing health problems, even months after the illness (such as fatigue and brain fog). But now a study of 150,000 people has linked the infection to much more serious mental health problems.
The researchers found that people who recovered from COVID were 40% more likely to become depressed or sleep poorly, and 20% more likely to abuse psychoactive substances within a year after being infected with coronavirus. They also had a slightly higher risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts and panic attacks.
And the more severe their infection was, the more likely they were to report mental health problems, which suggests COVID may play a role.
An article published in the British medical journal BMJ was review and could not establish the cause of this condition. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail notes, depression and anxiety are already being linked to “prolonged COVID,” a general term that covers a range of illnesses people experience after being infected with the coronavirus.
Evidence is already accumulating that COVID damages blood vessels, including in the brain, which could explain the persisting symptoms.
Louis University researchers studied 150,000 U.S. military veterans, mostly men in their 60s, who tested positive through January 2021. Participants were followed up for a year. They were compared to a group of 5.6 million veterans who by this point had not yet contracted the coronavirus.
Among the survivors of COVID-19, there were approximately 15 additional cases of depression per 1,000 people. Suicidal ideation was about 46% more common among those who contracted the coronavirus, about two additional cases per 1,000 people. Those who recovered from COVID were also more likely to suffer from sleep problems: by 24 additional cases per 1,000 people.
Scientists have found higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse among COVID survivors, with four and two additional cases per 1,000 people, respectively.
While the study was observational, to explain their findings, the researchers pointed to previous research showing that COVID infections — especially severe attacks — can reduce blood flow to the brain and damage neurons. But being forced to leave work, being isolated from family, and not being able to exercise while ill were thought to play a role as well.
Of study participants who contracted COVID, 20,996 (14%) were hospitalized with severe illness. Hospitalized COVID patients are 243% more likely to have mental health problems, representing 177 additional cases per 1,000 people. But those who didn’t have a severe infection were still 40% more likely to have mental illness, or 31 extra cases per 1,000 people.
In general, scientists have said that people who have contracted COVID are 60% more likely to develop a mental disorder than those who have not contracted the coronavirus.
Participants in the most recent study were recruited from the US Department of Veterans Affairs National Health Database. Most of them were men (89 percent), obese (45 percent) or overweight (35 percent). Weight is considered one of the biggest risk factors for COVID, with obese people three times more likely to die from the disease, studies show.
Previous research has linked COVID survival to mental health issues. One Oxford University article published last April found that one in three recoveries were diagnosed with depression, anxiety or other problems within six months of beating the virus.
And a University of Milan paper found that more than half of the most severely ill patients later developed mental problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr Max Take, a psychiatrist at the University of Oxford who was not involved in the study, says: “This is a well-conducted study that confirms the results of several previous studies showing that patients are at an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders after contracting COVID. Although the data is limited to US veterans, other studies representative of the majority of the population have found similar results. The fact that patients appear to still be at increased risk 12 months after being diagnosed with COVID is alarming. But whether this represents a belated diagnosis or a new onset of mental illness remains to be determined.”