Introduction:
People are more likely to develop anxiety, depression, and dementia during COVID-19. Nearly 30 percent of COVID-19 positive patients developed some mental issues during the period of disease and quarantine. These issues include depression, anxiety, and dementia. It usually develops within the three months of diagnosis, according to the latest study (Choi et al., 2020).
Discussion:
Doctors have long supposed that COVID-19 was associated with higher rates of depression and other problems related to mental health. According to the latest study from the UK which found that the positive patients with COVID-19 had a crucial probability of developing a psychiatric disorder like depression even after recovering (Ries et al., 2020). 20 percent of the patients with COVID-19 developed mental issues like depression and anxiety, according to the report published in The Lancet. But the risk of developing depression was doubled compared to the patients who did not have COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 also experienced insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorders along with depression (Ries et al., 2020).
Causes of depression in COVID-19:
A senior neuropsychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital said that “Coronavirus can result in some mental or psychological issues due to its physical effects and pandemic stress of the disease.” Researchers are still finding the new and appropriate causes and impacts of coronavirus (Ries et al., 2020). In the majority of the patients, depression developed just because of the reason, of finding a way to manage the threat to changes in society, lifestyle, and health. Isolation or quarantine at home is another major problem that can cause depression in COVID positive patients or even in COVID negative individuals (Ries et al., 2020).
Risk of depression
The risk of depression is doubled in patients who are diagnosed for the first time. According to the record of NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and the University of Oxford, there is a population of 69 million individuals in the United States, and 62,000 Individuals diagnosed positive with COVID-19. Nearly 4 percent of patients negative with COVID-19 developed depression and some other psychiatric disorders, compared to the 6 percent of adults positive with COVID-19 who developed depressions (Ries et al., 2020). In other words, patients with COVID-19 had a 2 times greater risk for developing depression, anxiety, or mood disorders. The researchers show that having depression in the year before being diagnosed with COVID-19 was associated with a 70 percent greater risk of getting the disorder again or with worsened symptoms of depression (Ries et al., 2020).
How the new COVID-19 affects the mind:
The coronavirus is a life-threatening disease and triggers depression and anxiety. Patients which are positive with COVID-19 must isolate, which can cause depression and anxiety. Diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 is more likely to be a cause of depression and trauma than other medical problems due to the novelty of the illness, the severity of the illness, isolation, and is linked to the uncertainty in its treatment (Ries et al., 2020).
Depression increases pain also in patients of chronic pain. Read more about pain depression and covid.
References
Ries, J. (2021). 1 in 5 People With COVID-19 Developed Mental Health Issue. Retrieved 21 May 2021, from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/people-with-covid-19-more-likely-to-develop-depression-anxiety-and-dementia
Choi EPH, Hui BPH, Wan EYF. Depression and Anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 25;17(10):3740. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103740. PMID: 32466251; PMCID: PMC7277420.