One in three survivors of COVID-19 will suffer from a neurological or mental illness within six months of infection, according to a Research led by the University of Oxford mainly look at American patients.
Of the patients treated in the ICU, 7% had a stroke and almost 2% were diagnosed with dementia. Researchers also found that 17% of patients developed anxiety and 14% suffered from mood disorders.
“People most at risk are the ones who were the sickest, the hospital patients who were in the ICU. Those are the ones who are more at risk for the more serious conditions,” said psychiatrist Dr. Sue Varma on “CBS This Morning” Thursday. “The scariest part is people who didn’t have COVID symptoms or were very mild Covid symptoms that have disappeared, or previously known psychiatric illnesses, they too are at risk for the anxiety and depression. “
The study found that in many cases, people who report these neurological and mental health problems have never experienced them before.
“That’s so scary, especially when you hear voices or the voices tell you to hurt yourself or harm other people or that other people are out to get you,” Varma said.
Varma, who is not a member of the study, noted that it can sometimes be difficult to separate the consequences of the virus from the consequences of the economic and other consequences of the pandemic.
And while similar symptoms can occur after other viral infections, the study found that people who were sick with COVID-19 were twice as likely to show them compared to people with the flu.
“Never underestimate or minimize your mental health problems, as they could very much be related to the inflammation that COVID caused in the body,” Varma said.
The sudden shift in mental health has taken many COVID-19 patients by surprise, including 50-year-old Seattle adventure photographer Ivan Agerton. He compared the change to a light switch after recovering from his infection.
“I felt that this intense paranoia was happening to me,” Agerton told CBS News’ Ian Lee. “I couldn’t escape it – any person I saw would arouse this intense fear.”
When the former Marine first came up with COVID, he feared for the health of his wife and three small children. Only after he thought he had recovered did he begin to feel what he recognized as mental illness.
I heard voices outside my window. I thought I heard people in the bushes, ”he recalls. “It was definitely the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
There was a turning point, however: after getting his vaccination two weeks earlier, Agerton said he “started to feel really good.”
And while his new conditions are “under control,” Agerton is still concerned about how long they will plague him.