Depression, Anxiety May Be Side Effects as Nation Grapples with COVID-19

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on MedicalXpress.

Millions of Americans are being impacted by the psychological fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic aftermath, and large numbers may experience emotional distress and be at increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety, according to a new article published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Perspective article, co-authored by Carol North, M.D., a UT Southwestern crisis psychiatrist who has studied survivors of disasters including the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, calls on already stretched health care providers to monitor the psychosocial needs of their patients as well as themselves and fellow health care workers during this time.

Certain groups will be more highly affected, according to the paper. That includes people who contract the disease, those at heightened risk including the elderly and people living with underlying health conditions, and those with preexisting psychiatric or substance abuse problems.

Health care providers are also especially vulnerable to emotional distress during the pandemic, the paper continues, given their risk of exposure amid shortages of personal protective equipment, long work hours, and involvement in the “emotionally and ethically fraught” need to allocate scarce resources when treating patients.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-04-depression-anxiety-side-effects-nation.html