Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jun 30, 2025 5 hours, 58 minutes ago
Thailand Medical News:
Shocking Mental Health Toll of COVID-19 Now Being Exposed
A groundbreaking study from researchers at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, and Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York, has revealed alarming rates of first-time psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions among individuals infected with COVID-19. The scoping review, based on data from 333 global studies conducted between 2020 and 2023, offers the most comprehensive look to date at how COVID-19 may be permanently altering brain and mental health.
COVID-19 Infections Triggering a Global Mental Illness Crisis
This
Thailand Medical News report highlights how these conditions are not only widespread but, in many cases, persist for up to two years after the initial infection—posing significant long-term public health challenges.
COVID-19 Is More Than Just a Respiratory Illness
COVID-19 is now being tied to a surge in mental and neurological disorders. These include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD, insomnia, eating disorders, and various types of cognitive impairments often grouped under what people commonly refer to as “brain fog.” Researchers found that patients who had contracted the virus—especially those who were hospitalized or admitted to ICUs—were at a much higher risk of developing these disorders compared to the general population.
In many cases, brain imaging showed structural changes related to depressive symptoms. Children and teens were not spared either, with some developing conditions like anorexia nervosa after experiencing loss of smell or taste due to the virus.
The Global Picture Is Deeply Concerning
The study, which analyzed research from over 55 countries including the U.S., Italy, China, Germany, Spain, and Brazil, shows how universal the crisis has become. Anxiety disorders were most commonly reported in the early phase of the pandemic, followed by neurocognitive decline and major depression in the later years. By 2023, anxiety and depression once again surged as leading mental health outcomes.
Researchers found that even mild COVID-19 cases could lead to long-term mental issues. For example, patients with no prior psychiatric history reported new or worsened symptoms like memory loss, attention difficulties, and insomnia months after recovery.
Underlying Causes Go Beyond the Virus
The review suggested multiple possible causes for these mental health issues. One is the direct invasion of the central nervous system by the virus. Another is systemic inflammation, which increases harmful immune molecules like cytokines that affect brain function. Other contributors include psychological stress, isolation, and the trauma of hospitalization. The study also found elevated markers of inflammation in patients with depression, poor memory, and executive dysfunction.
Interestingly, certain brain regions,
such as the hippocampus, showed physical changes in neuroimaging scans in depressed patients post-COVID. In long COVID sufferers, 28.6% displayed abnormal brainstem patterns that correlated with higher depression and anxiety scores.
Alarming Findings Among Vulnerable Groups
Pregnant women who contracted COVID-19 were found to be more susceptible to postpartum depression. Survivors with prior ADHD, pre-existing mental illness, or multiple comorbidities were also at increased risk of serious mental health deterioration post-infection. Those who had been in the ICU often experienced lingering PTSD and depression symptoms long after discharge.
Even seizures, Parkinson’s-like symptoms, and substance abuse issues appeared in some COVID survivors, with one study noting that new seizure diagnoses persisted up to two years after initial infection.
Calls for Global Mental Health Response
The study strongly recommends global action, including the setup of long-term mental health monitoring programs for COVID survivors, investment in telemedicine, and expanding psychiatric support teams. Regular screening for those with severe initial infections or prolonged symptoms should be made a healthcare priority.
The researchers also emphasized the urgent need for future studies to explore treatments and to understand how socioeconomic conditions may worsen outcomes. Public health campaigns should now include education about these lasting mental health effects.
Healthcare providers, families, and patients themselves need to be aware of these symptoms to ensure timely interventions before conditions worsen or become chronic.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pcn5.70146
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Thailand Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/one-in-three-covid-19-survivors-are-diagnosed-with-a-neuropsychiatric-condition-within-six-months-of-recovery
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/eeg-patterns-reveal-psychiatric-risk-after-sars-cov-2-omicron-infection
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/yet-another-study-finds-that-covid-19-affects-mental-health-even-in-young-and-mildly-infected-individuals
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/mental-health
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