More Than Half of COVID-19 Survivors in Study Reported Psychiatric Disorders

A study from a hospital in Milan, Italy has uncovered another complication to the process of recovering from the new coronavirus. More than half of patients surveyed one month after their treatment had developed a psychiatric disorder.
The study, published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity on Thursday, found that 55 percent of former patients surveyed experienced either post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, insomnia or obsessive compulsive (OC) symptoms.
"After three weeks of treatments, I was healing from COVID, at home, had no fever, and just a little cough," one of the patients surveyed for the study said. "But sometimes at night, my breath could go away all of a sudden, making me feel as if I was to die. I knew what it was because I had suffered from panic attacks in the past. I stayed there out on the balcony, for hours, trying to put fresh air into my lungs. It was terrible. Panic made me suffer more than COVID."
To obtain their results, researchers surveyed 402 patients who were treated at Milan's San Raffaele Hospital between April 6 and June 9: 265 men and 137 women. The patients were all initially assessed at the emergency room and then either admitted to the hospital or treated at home.
A month after treatment, the patients were interviewed and given questionnaires to assess their mental health. They reported psychiatric symptoms at the following rates:
- Anxiety: 42 percent
- Depression, 31 percent
- Insomnia: 40 percent
- PTSD: 28 percent
- OC Symptoms: 20 percent
Women fared worse psychologically than men, The Guardian reported. People who had previously been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder also were more likely to develop mental health symptoms after recovering from COVID-19.
The researchers were not surprised by their results, because previous studies of other coronaviruses had turned up increased mental health problems in survivors. For example, 10 to 35 percent of those who recovered from SARS have experienced psychiatric symptoms.
The reason COVID-19 survivors develop these symptoms could be down to two main reasons, the researchers think: the immune system's response to the disease and the stress of illness, such as fear, stigma and social isolation.
Research suggests a link between immune-triggered inflammation and mental illness. In addition, the study found that outpatients had worse mental health outcomes than people treated in the hospital, suggesting isolation played a role.
"Also considering the worse severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, this observation suggests that less healthcare support could have increased the social isolation and loneliness typical of COVID-19 pandemics, thus inducing more psychopathology after remission," the researchers wrote.
They said their findings warranted more investigation into the link between the pandemic and mental health issues.
"PTSD, major depression, and anxiety, are all high-burden non-communicable conditions associated with years of life lived with disability," they wrote. "Considering the alarming impact of COVID-19 infection on mental health, the current insights on inflammation in psychiatry, and the present observation of worse inflammation leading to worse depression, we recommend to assess psychopathology of COVID-19 survivors and to deepen research on inflammatory biomarkers, in order to diagnose and treat emergent psychiatric conditions."
The impact of the pandemic on mental health isn't limited to disease survivors, however, as Tech Times pointed out.
Public health experts have already warned about a second pandemic of psychological disorders even among those who do not contract the disease. The fear of illness and the stress of losing employment or simply following current events could all take a toll.
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Comparing rime ice and glaze ice shows how each changes the texture of the blade. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
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While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p>theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
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