are you fighting with anxiety, depression, personality changes and other mental health problems after Covid? You are not alone. There are a number of people who report psychiatric disorders after their recovery and mental health experts advise people to work on a healthy lifestyle as well as treatments including psychotherapy and medication. Recently, a study from Oregon State University (OSU) in the US found that COVID-19 patients had a 25% increased risk of developing a psychiatric disorder within four months of infection, compared to people who had other types of respiratory tract infections. . The finding was published in the journal World Psychiatry. (Also read: These post Covid diseases can kill; doctors on how to avoid them)
Experts are of the opinion that the pandemic has affected the mental health not only of people who were infected by Covid but also of people who have not. A higher number of post-covid mental health-related complaints have been noted in women or patients admitted to intensive care units.
“Post-Covid there have been many psychiatric disorders that have manifested in people who have experienced the infection and people who have not,” says Dr. Shambhavi Jaiman, a consultant psychiatrist in the Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences at Fortis Healthcare Ltd.
The most common psychiatric disorders observed are anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, post-traumatic disorder, and bereavement-related symptoms.
“The observed statistical range for these disorders has been about 6.5% to 63% for anxiety disorder, 4% to 31% for depressive disorder, and 12.1% to 49.6% for post-traumatic stress disorder. An overall decrease in quality of life was seen up to 3 months after covid infection,” says Dr. Jaiman, adding that there has also been an increase in domestic violence, or violence that occurs within a family.
Post-Covid mental illness: How long do these symptoms continue?
Dr. Jaiman says that there is no exact duration for these symptoms and that they can vary from person to person and from disorder to disorder.
“The duration of these symptoms or disorders would also depend on the type of intervention or changes that have been made to address the symptoms or disorders. But, on average, I would say that, even with intervention, it would take a few weeks to months for them to resolve. recover. symptoms lessen or resolve,” says Dr. Jaiman.
How to detect these symptoms?
When we talk about psychiatric disorders, some common things to keep in mind are:
– Significant changes in the person’s behavior such as more frequent crying, greater irritability, greater emotional sensitivity, etc.
– Changes in your sleep – increase or decrease in the duration of sleep or change in the quality of sleep or change in eating habits.
– Another important factor is socio-occupational dysfunction, for example, decreased interaction with family/colleagues; changes in the level of professional/academic performance.
– If a combination of the above is observed, a psychological evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist should be warranted.
What are the treatment options?
Lifestyle management: adequate exercise, adequate sleep and balanced nutrition.
– Treatment may be a combination of psychotherapy and medications such as anxiolytics or antidepressants or either depending on the symptom profile and severity of symptoms.
.
