Experts have already sounded the alarm about the coronavirus’s impact on patients’ subsequent physical well-being.

They, on the other hand, have issued a warning about their mental health, warning of a new pandemic of suicides and drug abuse.

Depression, suicidal thoughts, opiate and reckless alcohol use, sleep difficulties, and difficulty concentrating are all symptoms of stress.

Many of these symptoms are commonly associated with external socio-economic issues such as unemployment and an unstable family environment.

According to new research findings published in the BMJ, these extra severe psychological symptoms occur in as many as 60% of people who have been infected with the coronavirus.

Although it’s unclear how COVID-19 impacts the brain, Lead researcher Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly believes the virus causes damage as it reaches brain cells.

“The virus can actually enter the brain and cause an array of different problems, including disruption of neuron connections, the elevation of some inflammatory markers, disruption of signaling, and changes in the architecture of the brain, which may also explain the brain fog or neurocognitive [thinking] decline,” he said.

Al-Aly and his colleagues gathered data on roughly 154,000 persons with COVID-19 from March 1, 2020, to January 15, 2021, using a US Department of Veterans Affairs database.

They compared mental health outcomes with approximately 6 million people who did not have COVID-19 and another 6 million people from prior to the pandemic’s start.

The majority of the participants were older white men, but due to the study’s magnitude, it included over 1 million women and over 2 million Black patients and adults of all ages.

They noted that individuals who carried COVID-19 had a 35 percent increased risk of anxiety and a roughly 40 percent increased risk of depression or stress-related diseases. There was a 55 percent rise in the usage of antidepressants among these patients, as well as a 65 percent increase in the use of benzodiazepines to manage anxiety.

Additionally, these patients had a 41 percent increased risk of sleep disorders and an 80 percent increased risk of cognitive declines such as forgetfulness, confusion, and a lack of focus, the study found.

They also had a 34 percent higher risk of becoming addicted to opioids, 20 percent higher risk of developing an alcohol or illegal substance dependency, and 46 percent higher risk of having suicidal thoughts, the results found.

The intensity of the COVID-19 infection was linked to the probability of mental issues, according to the study. Mental issues were shown to be 27 percent more frequent in individuals with a mild infection, and 45 percent more likely in those with a severe infection.

Other infections, such as influenza, did not pose these risks, according to Al-Aly.

According to one specialist, the virus’s mental residue in some individuals is a major issue.

“I think the neurological, psychiatric impact of the virus is a second pandemic,” added Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. “In most cases, the brain fog clears, but we don’t know the full impact on this long term, and it’s very concerning.”

Source: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068993

Image Credit: Getty

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