One in three Covid survivors ‘develop mental health problems’

Covid-19 patients have a significantly increased risk of developing brain disorders within six months of being infected with the coronavirus, a new study has found.

The analysis of data on 236,379 Covid survivors - outlined in a newly published paper in The Lancet - indicates that an average of one in three (34%) are subsequently diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition.

And people who suffer the most severe coronavirus infections are the most likely to be affected. The University of Oxford study found that such disorders occurred in 62% of people who during their Covid battle experienced encephalopathy - described as “delirium and other altered mental states”.

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That percentage dropped to 46% people who had been in intensive care with coronavirus, and to 39% of Covid patients admitted to hospital.

By comparing data from a control group “and taking into account underlying health characteristics such as age, sex, ethnicity, and existing health conditions”, the researchers also found that overall, the risk of developing brain problems was 44% greater after Covid than after flu of the same severity, The Independent reports.

The study was based on health records for mostly US patients dating from January to December 2020 and found that anxiety and mood disorders were the most prevalent diagnosis in the former Covid patients, at 17% and 14% respectively.

The risk of serious disorders affecting the nervous system also appears to increase post-Covid, with 7% of patients admitted to intensive care suffering a stroke within the following half year, and almost 2% diagnosed with dementia.

The Oxford team “said it was not clear how the virus was linked” to the various conditions, reports Reuters.

Study co-author Professor Paul Harrison suggested that the mental health disorders could be linked to the “stress” of being diagnosed with the coronavirus,“rather than it being a direct effect” of Covid “on the brain, or the immune response to the virus on the brain”.

Meanwhile, fellow co-author Masud Husain noted that a question mark remains over whether conditions such as dementia and strokes were “a direct consequence of the virus or whether the effects of being ill on clotting, for example, on the immune system can have an effect”.

But whatever the reasons, the study paper warns that “given the size of the pandemic and the chronicity of many of the diagnoses” and resulting health effects, “substantial effects on health and social care systems are likely to occur”.

Independent experts have also described the latest findings as worrying.

“This is a very important paper. It confirms beyond any reasonable doubt that Covid-19 affects both brain and mind in equal measure,” said Simon Wessely, chair of psychiatry at King’s College London.

“The impact Covid-19 is having on individuals’ mental health can be severe,” added Lea Milligan, chief executive of the MQ Mental Health research charity. “This is contributing to the already rising levels of mental illness and requires further, urgent research.”