- Honey Dahari, LMFT, MBA
Does Covid-19 Cause Mental Illness?
Updated: Aug 20, 2020
Does the Coronavirus cause mental health problems?
This is a question researchers in Italy set out to discover. To find an answer, they monitored over 400 patients who were treated for Covid-19. What they revealed is heartbreaking.
They found that more than half of all the patients who recovered from Covid-19. went on to develop mental health issues. They noted the psychological problems that were most common in survivors of the Coronavirus were Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Of course to say that Covid-19 actually caused mental illness is not so simple. As scientists say, corolation is not causation; which means that even if it looks like there is a strong connection, there might not be a cause and effect. There are many related issues that may lead to increasing rates of mental health problems including isolation, stigma, and loneliness.
What is shocking, is that the researchers stated they believe there is a connection between inflammation caused by Covid-19 and the brain; which may be causing high numbers of psychological disorders.
The only 2 things that we know:
1. More research is needed.
2. Mental health services are going to be key to emotional and psychological recovery from Covid-19.
Check out this Reuters article about the findings of the study: