It has been observed that COVID-19 not just causes physical symptoms that we already know about, it also has a significant impact on mental health. There are many additions to the list of physical symptoms as compared to what it was when the pandemic first hit the globe.
Studies have found that even with mild cases of COVID-19, the incidence of depression, anxiety, and mental fatigue is likely to occur just as it would occur in patients with severe cases.
In this article, let us find out about the key takeaways related to mental health and COVID-19 briefly.
Mental health-related issues and COVID-19 as cited by Willian D. King
Check out these fast facts.
- According to 215 review studies conducted, that tried to explore how COVID-19 affects the brain, it was found that many patients have reported mental health issues like anxiety accounting for 16% and depression accounting for 23% of the total number of patients present in the study.
- Due to Covid19 were also common. The most reported symptoms were 43% for loss of smell, fatigue was reported in 38%, weakness was reported in 40%, muscle pain in 25%, loss of taste in 37%, and a headache was reported in many as 21% of the patients.
- Most of the studies that were conducted considered the mental health issues related to severe cases, especially the ones that were admitted into hospitals, however, the lesser severe cases were equally affected by mental health issues reporting higher levels of neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
- Ischemic stroke that accounted for 1.9%, seizure (0.06%), and hemorrhagic stroke accounted for 0.4% were the neurological issues that were reported as well. Researchers were finding that all the above conditions could further add to the “burden of disease”.
As COVID-19 hits the globe with even greater vigor, what most experts are fearing is that there could also be a parallel so-called “mental health pandemic” that could be ongoing aside from the main pandemic.
Increasingly, there are reports of people suffering from stress, depression, and anxiety due to the fear of contracting the disease, isolation, and stringent social distancing norms have increased the incidence of people suffering from mental health disorders.
Research says that at least one out of 5 patients that contracted COVID-19 is bound to report mental health issues within the first three months from the time of recovery.
It was also found that at least 65% of the people that already suffer from any kind of mental issues are susceptible to COVID-19 and are more likely to contract the disease.
Governments around the world have been asked to emphasize mental health treatments and addressing the same.
Although vaccination rollout has eased stringent social distancing policies, mandatory basics or fundamental measures are still in places like using sanitizers and masks and washing hands. However, as per Wiillam the mandatory or the fundamental measures must remain in place for safety and is surely here to stay for quite a long time now.
