Is COVID-19 causing an anxiety epidemic?

What is the research about?

Many people, whether or not they got COVID-19, have experienced anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions linked to the pandemic. While research has looked at the negative mental health effects resulting from COVID-19 infection, not much is known about the long-term mental health impact beyond about six months.

Study participants who reported COVID-19 and had been bedridden for at least seven days were 61% more likely to experience depression and 43% more likely to experience anxiety than those who did not report a COVID-19 diagnosis.

This study in The Lancet Public Health looked at associations between COVID-19 and mental health issues for nearly a year and a half, comparing patients with people who had never been diagnosed with COVID-19.

What did the researchers do?

To assess the long-term mental health impacts linked to COVID-19 infection, the researchers looked at how prevalent symptoms of depression, anxiety, COVID-19 related distress, and poor sleep quality were among people who reported having been diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who had never had a COVID-19 diagnosis. They studied participants for up to 16 months from seven cohorts across Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.

What did they find?

The study found that serious COVID-19 illness resulting in an individual being bedridden for at least seven days is linked to an increase in the risk of long-term adverse mental health effects. Of the 247,249 people included, 9,979 (4%) reported testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, between February 2020 and August 2021, 1,613 of whom were bedridden for at least seven days. Study participants who reported COVID-19 and had been bedridden for at least seven days were 61% more likely to experience depression and 43% more likely to experience anxiety than those who did not report a COVID-19 diagnosis over the 16-month study period.

Intriguingly, the study also found that patients with mild COVID-19 disease were less likely to have depression and anxiety than those never diagnosed. The authors say “one explanation for this is that the return to normal lives is a relief for these individuals, while those still not infected are anxious about the risk of infection and being burdened by social isolation.”

They add that, “The extended duration of official gathering restrictions might have had less impact on the mental health of recovered asymptomatic COVID-19 patients than the general population, as they could, for example, visit relatives without the fear of infecting them. It is also possible that individuals with a low risk of mental morbidities before the pandemic had a less severe disease course after being infected with SARS-CoV-2.”

In people with mild COVID-19 who did have symptoms of depression and anxiety, these symptoms mostly subsided within two months.

What does this mean?

The researchers say that their findings indicate that people who have had severe COVID-19 should continue to be monitored and any symptoms followed up.