Researchers have linked Covid-19 infection to the development of disorders such as anxiety and depression.
- A Covid-19 infection could be linked to the development of disorders such as anxiety or depression.
- According to a study, this would be due to biological markers developed during Covid-19 infection.
- Mental disorders then develop within six to twelve months.
Covid-19 also impacts mental health, as demonstrated by a new study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Researchers have linked infection with the virus to the development of disorders such as depression and anxiety.
10% of participants develop a psychiatric disorder
To achieve this result, scientists from National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and Paris-Saclay studied data from nearly 35,000 patients who had been hospitalized with severe COVID-19. The participants had no prior history of psychiatric illness.
In detail, the researchers observed that 10% of the participants had developed a psychiatric disorder, such as depression or anxiety. Biological markers at the origin of these disorders developed in these patients during the Covid-19 infection.
“There is the fact of staying in the hospital for more than seven days, of having an episode of confusion during hospitalization, of having monocytes which are a blood cell dedicated to inflammation, explains Matthieu Gasnier, psychiatrist at the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital, at the microphone of France Inter. These markers, observed during hospitalization for Covid, make it possible to predict psychological disorders triggered within 6 to 12 months.”
Identify and prevent patients at risk of depression or anxiety disorders
Ultimately, this work could therefore make it possible to identify people at risk of psychiatric disorders and provide them with better care.It is quite possible to imagine that the results will be extrapolable outside the context of Covid-19 and would allow strategies to prevent patient disorders towards the hospital.”, underlines Matthieu Gasnier.
21% of adults aged 18 to 65 will experience severe anxiety disorders during their lifetime, according to the High Authority of Health (HAS). These are manifested, according to Inserm by “strong and lasting anxiety unrelated to real danger or threat, which disrupts [le] normal operation and [les] daily activities.”
For depression, one in five people have suffered or will suffer from it during their lifetime, according to InsermThis disorder manifests itself through characteristic depressive episodes, which have as symptoms pathological sadness or loss of pleasure.
