1 in 5 COVID-19 Patients at Risk of Developing Mental Illness, Study Suggests

One in five COVID-19 survivors is likely to develop mental illness within three months of infection, a study suggested.

The study, published Monday in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal, said mental illnesses like anxiety, depression and insomnia are most common among recovered COVID-19 patients.

These psychiatric disorders were found in 20% of those infected with the coronavirus within 90 days, reported Reuters.

There was also higher risk of severe mental illness such as dementia or a brain impairment condition.

According to The Guardian, the study also found that those with pre-existing mental health conditions were 65% more likely to get a COVID-19 diagnosis than those without.

This data also accounts for known risk factors like age, race and other underlying physical health conditions.

Dr. Max Taquet, one of the authors of the analysis, said the finding was "unexpected and needs investigation."

But he suggested the addition of psychiatric disorders to the list of COVID-19 risk factors.

Health Experts Urged to Address Mental Illness Amid COVID-19

"People have been worried that COVID-19 survivors will be at greater risk of mental health problems," Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at Britain's Oxford University, told Voice of America.

He also suggested health services to prepare to deal with new mental health cases, urging experts to urgently address the issue and investigate what could cause it.

The research was conducted by teams from the University of Oxford and NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.

Health records of some 69 million people in the U.S. including over 62,000 cases of COVID-19 were examined.

In the 14 to 90 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis was made, incidence of mental illness was 18.1%, including the 5.8% that were a first diagnosis.

So they can find out if the risk was related to COVID-19, the researchers examine the data compared with six other physical illnesses: influenza; other respiratory tract infections; a skin infection; gallstones; urinary tract stones; and the fracture of a large bone.

According to the paper, 5.8% those who were diagnosed of mental illness had a COVID-19 diagnosis in the three months prior.

Meanwhile, only 2.5% to 3.4% had a mental illness diagnosis in the comparison illnesses, almost double the risk when compared to the other group.

Mental Health Experts Encouraged by New Data

Mental health experts who were not directly involved in the research said the findings add to growing evidence that COVID-19 has some effect to the brain.

These effects reflect through the increasing risk of a range of psychiatric illnesses.

Michael Bloomfield, a consultant psychiatrist from the University College London, believe this is due to the combination of psychological stressors and physical effects of COVID-19.

Studies on the impact of the coronavirus to the brain are already underway.

There are studies in the UK that explore the neurological and neuropsychiatric complications of COVID-19.

In July, a study also detailed that COVID-19 raises risk of complication ranging from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke.

"COVID-19 affects the central nervous system, and so might directly increase subsequent disorders," said Simon Wessely, regius professor of psychiatry at King's College London.

But the research may not be the whole story when it comes to mental health and the virus.

There is still increased risk from previous mental and physical illness that researchers can explore.