FM December 2020 digital P

“Mental health [issues] associated
with COVID-19 certainly need a lot more
attention,” says Dr Aashish Contractor.
currently Director of Rehabilitation and
Sports Medicine at the Sir HN Reliance
Foundation Hospital, Mumbai.
According to him, COVID-19 has taken
a huge toll on mental health across the
world. Besides the physical burden of
the disease, the associated stigma and
social isolation has led to a large number
of survivors grappling with issues such as
anxiety and depression, he adds.
As for the chances of some of these
mental health issues connected to
COVID-19 proving to be really long-lasting,
psychologists believe obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD) could be one of the likely
candidates.
Alongside OCD, which is itself a
manifestation of anxiety, general anxiety is
also another important mental health issue
to watch out for in the long term. Chronic
loneliness brought on by social isolation
or “a lack of meaning” in life during the
pandemic is another major concern,
experts point out.
People with a history of mental illness
are at a risk of relapse during this time.
Currently, there is no available datasets
quantifying the proportion of patients
suffering from such long-haul symptoms.
One published study indicates that about
50% of hospitalized patients are suffering
from symptoms such as fatigue, shortness
of breath and joint pains two months after
hospital discharge.
A 750 person study conducted
in Bergamo, Italy, once the world’s
coronavirus epicentre, found that around
30 percent still have lung scarring and
breathing trouble. Another 30 percent
reported problems linked to inflammation
and clotting, such as heart abnormalities
and artery blockages. A few are at risk of
organ failure.
Another study conducted in Rome
found that 87% of the 143 people studied
reported at least one symptom more than
two months later. Yet another research
conducted in the UK in about 4 million
people using the COVID-19 tracker app
showed that 12% of the people had at
least one symptom after 30 days and 2%
BECAUSE IT IS
DIFFICULT TO
PREDICT LONG-
TERM OUTCOMES OF
COVID-19, SCIENTISTS
ARE LOOKING AT THE
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
SEEN IN RELATED
VIRUSES, SUCH AS
THE ONE THAT CAUSES
SARS
had long COVID symptoms after 90 days.
Because it’s difficult to predict longterm
outcomes of COVID-19, scientists
are looking at the long-term effects seen
in related viruses, such as the one that
causes SARS.
Meanwhile, follow-up research on
COVID patients after discharge from the
hospital has only just started.
Overactive immune system to blame?
As the research community pours over
the causative mechanisms behind the
long-standing symptoms of SARS-CoV-2
infection, medical experts say that these
symptoms may have different origins,
36 / FUTURE MEDICINE / December 2020