The study, published Wednesday in the scientific journal The BMJ, analyzed the records of nearly 154,000 people who had contracted Covid-19 and compared their experience following recovering from the initial infection to a similar group of people who did not have the infection.
The study only included patients who had not been diagnosed or treated for mental health for at least two years before they contracted the coronavirus, allowing researchers to focus on psychiatric diagnoses only following contracting the virus.
The study found that people who had contracted COVID-19 were 39 percent more likely to develop depression, and 35 percent more likely to develop anxiety over the months following infection, compared to people who did not have Covid during the same period.
Covid patients were 38 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a stress disorder and 41 percent more likely to have a sleep disorder than uninfected people.
Dr Paul Harrison, professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford (not involved in the study) told the New York Times that these findings mirror the same picture as other research, including the 2021 study, of which he was an author, and “strengthen the hypothesis that There is something regarding the coronavirus that leaves people at risk of developing common mental health problems.”
The data do not indicate that most Covid patients will develop psychological symptoms, as the proportion of those who are susceptible to these symptoms was only between 4.4 and 5.6 percent of those included in the study.
They complained, in particular, of depression, anxiety or stress, and adjustment disorders.
The researchers also found that Covid patients were 80 percent more likely to develop cognitive problems such as brain fog, confusion and forgetfulness than those who did not have Covid.
The study stated that they were 34 per cent more likely to have an opioid use disorder “probably due to prescription pain medications”, the study says, and 20 per cent more likely to have a non-opioid use disorder, including alcoholism.
The study found that following contracting COVID-19, people were 55 percent more likely to take antidepressants, and 65 percent more likely to take anti-anxiety medications compared to people without COVID-19.
