{"id":123328,"date":"2021-08-05T11:00:40","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T10:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=123328"},"modified":"2022-11-30T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:00:00","slug":"long-covid-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/long-covid-mental-health.htm","title":{"rendered":"Long Covid and Mental Health – What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"long

By: Mishio<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Just not felt yourself <\/strong>since a case of Covid-19, or <\/span>been diagnosed with ‘long Covid’? And now have mental health issues<\/a>?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In July 2021 Britain’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported<\/a> 1.5 per cent of the population were claiming long Covid symptoms.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Covid and mental health <\/span><\/h3>\n

Physical illness has long been connected to mental health issues<\/b>, so in one way, this is not a surprising situation. Research suggests<\/a> that around 10 per cent of patients in primary care suffer from depression, for example. And conditions with similarities to Covid, like influenza and respiratory tract infections, have long been been known to lead to psychiatric and neurological diagnoses<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What is concerning is the sheer rate of<\/strong> people reporting mental health issues post Covid.<\/p>\n

The statistics about Covid and mental health<\/h3>\n

A landmark research paper<\/a> published in April 2021 looked at medical records of over 230 thousand Americans. <\/strong>It concluded that:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Just over 30 per cent had a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within six months of having Covid-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. For 12 per cent of these patients, it was their first such diagnosis.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. If a patient had been hospitalised or admitted to intensive care, those statistics rose to 46 per cent.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Neurological and psychiatric diagnoses were more likely to follow Covid than influenza and respiratory tract infections.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The worse the Covid infection, the higher the chance in general of a mental health diagnosis. <\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Patients who experienced delirium or altered mental states during Covid had higher rates of mental health issues in the six months to follow. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So I have a one in three chance of mental health issues post Covid? <\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"longNo. The study results are intimidating,<\/strong> but need to be taken with a grain of salt. <\/span>The statistics are drawn from electronic health records of American patients who had gone to their doctor or to a hospital. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    This can’t account for the many people with Covid who didn’t <\/strong>go to their doctor. <\/span>These numbers might be quite substantial, and significantly lower the above statistics, given that America does not provide a free health system to all like we have in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

    A previous American study<\/span><\/a> using data from one hospital only put the risk of depression or PTSD at only one in 10, becoming a higher risk in those who already had mental health issues before contracting Covid-19. Of course ten per cent is still substantial and of concern to scientists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    What mental health issues are we talking about here? <\/span><\/h3>\n

    The study mentions:<\/span><\/p>\n