For our latest MQ Open Mind webinar, we discussed how becoming ill with COVID19 directly impacts mental health.
Back in March when the first national lockdown began, many mental health professionals predicted that the pandemic would have a profound impact on mental health. In fact, the direct and indirect implications for COVID-19 on mental health were so substantial that MQ worked alongside the Academy of Medical Science to rapidly developed an influential roadmap for research to investigate it further. The indirect implications for mental health just from pandemic management are significant; the isolation from social distancing, uncertainty, the economic downturn, fear of catching the virus or fear for loved ones getting seriously ill, were contributing factors for a significant mental health impact from the pandemic.
However, although we are all in the same storm of COVID-19, we are not all in the same boat. We’ve learnt that certain groups of people are at particular risk for worsening physical and mental health through the pandemic, and conversely that some people have seen improvements in their mental health through it.
Brand new research from the University of Oxford and the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre shows the relationship between COVID19 and mental health problems are also more direct. Their research found those who have survived COVID19 are more likely to receive a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder within three months, and people who have existing mental health problems are more likely to catch coronavirus. Almost one in five people diagnosed with COVID-19 receive a psychiatric diagnosis within the next three months, of whom one in four had no previous psychiatric diagnoses. Those with a pre-existing mental illness were 65% more likely to subsequently be diagnosed with COVID-19.
We were delighted to be joined by Professor Paul Harrison and Dr Max Taquet from the University of Oxford, who worked on the study, and Dr Tim Nicholson, Clinical Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, and Tom Stayte from Long COVIDSOS. The webinar was hosted by MQ Ambassador and mental health campaigner Talk to Coco.
Watch the webinar here:
If you would like to play your part in helping researchers find answers about COVID19 and mental health, there are a number of studies on our Participate platform looking for volunteers to take part.
