Post Covid mental health issues

Are you also dealing with anxiety, depression, anger issues, phobia and other such mental health issues post Covid ?

You are not alone. There are a number of people who are reporting mental health issues post their recovery and mental health experts are advising people to work on healthy lifestyle as well as treatment including psychotherapy and medications. Recently a study at the Oregon State University (OSU) in the US found that Covid-19 patients had about 25 percent increased risk of developing a psychiatric disorder in the four months following their infection, compared with people who had other types of respiratory tract infections. The finding was published in the journal World Psychiatry.

“People are coming to us developing various kinds of psychiatric issues mainly anxiety and phobia within a month or two having covid infection” says Dr Prashant Gohil, Consultant Psychiatrist, Ahmedabad.

The most common psychiatric disorders which were seen are anxiety disorder, phobia, depression, post-traumaticstress disorder and brief psychosis.

The statistical range seen for these disorders has been around 6.5- 63% for anxiety disorder, 4- 31% for depressive disorder and 12.1- 49.6% for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post Covid psychiatric issues:When do symptoms start showing?

Dr Prashant says there isn’t any exact duration for which these symptoms start showing as it varies from person to person, however these symptoms usually start within a month or two post covid infection. Those who were having psychiatric problems earlier, might develop symptoms faster than the others.

It may start with anxiety and uneasiness and progress to phobia and interfering with daily life activities.

“The duration of the symptoms depends on the diagnosis, the severity of infection, past history, genetic basis and the intervention done by the psychiatrist and psychologist” says. Dr Prashant Gohil is one of the best Psychiatrist in Ahmedabad to help you with your post covid anxiety.

How to identify these symptoms?

• When we talk about psychiatric disorders some common things which we need to consider following things:
• Significant changes in the behaviour of the person like crying more frequently, increased irritability, increased emotional sensitivity etc
• Changes in their sleep pattern like increase or decrease in the duration of sleep or change in the quality of sleep or change in eating habits.
• Another important factor would be socio-occupational dysfunction e.g., decreasing interaction with family/peers; changes in the level of professional/ academic performance.
• A combination of the above if seen should warrant an immediate psychological assessment by a professional psychiatrist.
• We, at Aatman Psychiatry Clinic, are a team of best Psychiatrist in Ahmedabad and we can help you with your post covid psychiatric issues.

What are the treatment options?

• Consultation with a psychiatrist is a must.
• A trained psychiatrist would make a proper diagnosis and explain the prognosis of the illness depending on the severity.
• Medications such as anti-anxiety or anti-depressants are considered extremely helpful to tackle these symptoms
• Along with medicines, psychotherapy sessions have proved their effectiveness to reduce the symptoms.