Mental health conditions put you at high risk for COVID-19

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People with depression, ADHD and bipolar disorder may be at increased risk of developing COVID-19. Halfpoint Images / Getty Images
  • People with severe mental illness have a higher risk of COVID-19, but are unlikely to be prioritized to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
  • People diagnosed with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder or schizophrenia are much more likely to get the new coronavirus than people without severe mental illness.
  • Experts say that these groups should be given priority for a COVID-19 vaccine.

People with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, have a higher risk of contracting the new coronavirus and dying from COVID-19.

However, in most countries, this at-risk population is not a priority to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Society needs to prioritize at-risk groups, but it’s discouraging to see that, even during a pandemic, mental health is a further thought – if any – for many countries,” said Hilkka Kärkkäinen, president of the Global Alliance of Advocacy Networks. Mental Illness – Europe (GAMIAN-Europe), said in a press release.

“The scientific evidence is clear that COVID and the resulting blockage cause significant harm to people with serious mental health problems, but very few countries address this. This needs to change. ”

In a new study, Kärkkäinen and her colleagues looked at 20 European countries to see how they prioritized groups at risk for COVID-19 vaccination.

They found that only Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom recognized severe mental illness as a high-risk medical condition that allows people to be vaccinated earlier.

Their results were published in the journal on February 17 Lancet Psychiatry.

It is a grim statistic, reflected by the United States.

Only a few states, such as New Jersey and Ohio, include people with severe mental illness in the early stages of COVID-19 vaccine launch. And they were limited to patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals.

While many physical medical conditions – such as kidney and heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes – increase the risk of severe COVID-19, people with severe mental illness also have a higher risk.

Recent research shows that people diagnosed with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder or schizophrenia are much more likely to get the new coronavirus than people without severe mental illness.

Researchers believe that this may be because people with severe mental illness are more likely to work in unsafe environments, live in overcrowded groups or be homeless – all factors that increase their chances of acquiring the virus.

Severe mental illness also increases the risk of dying from COVID-19.

one study in JAMA Network Open found that people with severe mental illness are one and a half times more likely to die from COVID-19, even after researchers considered other factors, such as age and physical condition. .

A more recent study in Psychiatry JAMA found that people in New York with schizophrenia were almost three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people without schizophrenia. This happened after the researchers considered other risk factors.

The study authors wrote that people with schizophrenia may have differences in their immune systems, which predispose them to severe COVID-19.

Or medicines used to treat schizophrenia could make COVID-19 worse.

Further research would be needed to determine whether these factors played a role in patient outcomes.

Dr. Benjamin Druss, professor and Rosalynn Carter Professor of Mental Health at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Georgia, says the New York study suggests that severe mental illness may increase a person’s risk beyond these other factors.

“People with severe mental illness are certainly at high risk [for COVID-19] because of comorbidities, “he said,” and may present an even greater risk outside of these comorbidities, as the article suggests. “

But there are other reasons to give priority to this group for the COVID-19 vaccine.

People with severe mental illness are also at risk of not getting the vaccine even when they are eligible, Druss said. He says this is due to “a variety of reasons”, such as higher rates of homelessness and the lack of regular sources of primary health care.

He believes that designating this group as a high-risk population should go hand in hand with the allocation of vaccine doses to units where people with severe mental illness receive services or care, such as group homes, homeless shelters, centers. community mental health and psychiatric hospitals.

The approval of a single dose vaccine could help to reach this population, as people receiving care or services in these places may not return for the second dose.

“Now, with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on the horizon, which requires just one dose, it makes even more sense to expand the range of vaccine sites to include various types of public mental health facilities,” he said.

Although most states do not give priority to people with severe mental illness for the COVID-19 vaccine, people may fall into another priority category depending on their age or other medical conditions.

To find out if you or someone else is eligible for COVID-19 in your state, consult your state or local health department.

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