In a recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry , a team of scientists from the United Kingdom (U.K.) investigated whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was associated with mental health illnesses and whether the association was modified based on COVID-19 vaccination status among the general population, as well as among patients who were hospitalized due to the disease.
Study: COVID-19 and Mental Illnesses in Vaccinated and Unvaccinated People . Image Credit: Viacheslav Lopatin/Shutterstock.com Background Numerous studies on hospitalized COVID-19 patients as well as non-hospitalized individuals who experienced milder forms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection have shown that COVID-19 is associated with the subsequent development of mental health illnesses.
These include mental health impairments such as depression and anxiety, as well as more severe forms such as psychotic disorders. While microvascular alterations and persistent inflammation due to SARS-CoV-2 infection are some of the potential physiological mechanisms linked to mental health illnesses after COVID-19, psychosocial causes such as anxiety about the disease and the outcomes post-COVID-19 have also been implicated. Furthermore, although the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines was instrumental in limiting the transmission and morbidity of SARS-CoV-2 infections, the long-term implications of these rapidly developed vaccines on o.