Mental health conditions can be biologically driven as well as environmentally. And the mind-body connection has been no more apparent than with the emergence of COVID-related mental health issues.
Read on to learn about COVID-related psychosis. Then explore how depression and anxiety closely tie with pandemic concerns. Finally, review the mental and psychological effects of COVID-19 on several population groups.
COVID has not been generally linked to issues of psychosis, and the two conditions do not seem to be primarily related.
That said, in rare cases, individuals have experienced periods of psychosis during or after a COVID-19 infection, reporting disturbing hallucinations and delusions that led to significant emotional distress. While it may seem unexpected for an infectious illness, there is precedence for medical conditions to cause psychiatric symptoms. And mounting evidence shows that inflammation plays a role in many psychiatric disorders.
Depression symptoms are included as part of post-COVID syndrome, a constellation of symptoms individuals may experience twelve weeks or more beyond the initial infection. The reported rate of depression among these individuals ranges from 11% to 28%, indicating a high frequency of clinically significant symptoms.
Inflammation has been established as a factor in mental health conditions. COVID-19 infections create a state of hyperinflammation, but its relationship to the severity or frequency of depression symptoms is unclear.
Depression symptoms are not limited to post-COVID syndrome, however. The pandemic has resulted in distressing changes such as social isolation, job loss, economic uncertainties, and school disruption. These effects are seen at an even higher rate among socially disadvantaged populations where financial strain is significant.
COVID anxiety syndrome has been informally recognized as an emerging mental health concern. Individuals with this syndrome have an attentional bias toward COVID-related stimuli, resulting in pervasive emotional distress and functional impairment.
Some avoidance and isolation may be necessary when realistic safety concerns arise regarding COVID-19 exposure or infection. However, individuals with COVID anxiety syndrome persist with maladaptive coping methods even when the threat subsides. Core personality traits also seem to differentiate who may develop this syndrome. High extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness may have a protective effect, while neuroticism appears to be a risk factor.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been persistently distressing worldwide, with some individuals being more vulnerable to the development of mental health issues. Anxiety, depression, distress, and insomnia have been reported at higher rates than expected since the spring of 2020 as the pandemic quickly spread.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented another opportunity to explore the biological roots of psychiatric symptoms. Whether driven by the mechanics of infection or by distressing circumstances from the pandemic, the mental and psychological effects of COVID-19 may have a lasting impact.
