The Covid-19 pandemic is increasingly putting people’s mental well-being at risk, making its heavy effects felt on a psychological level. Insomnia, depression but also more serious mental disorders are the manifestations of what psychiatrists define the new and rampant ‘pandemic trauma’, which can leave marks for up to 30 months and puts 1 in 3 Italians at risk, with women who are the most exposed.
This is the picture that emerges from a systematic review by the Italian Society of Psychiatry (SIP) of the studies published on the topic of Covid and mental health, one year after the start of the worldwide pandemic. This situation, experts warn, leaves its deep marks on the psyche, risking to compromise even in the long term well-being and mental health not only of patients recovered from the virus, health workers and families of the victims, but of all people only indirectly they are suffering the blows of a year of Coronavirus.
The most common risk is living the pandemic experience in a traumatic way, manifesting the so-called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with chronic or persistent symptoms ranging from insomnia to nightmares and anxiety: up to one in three individuals could suffer from it. In the general population, women are the category most at risk, probably because the lockdown has weighed on them more than ever, both as mothers and as workers.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric disorder that can develop following exposure to traumatic events so excessive as to cause psychic upheaval – explain Massimo di Giannantonio and Enrico Zanalda, co-presidents of Sip -. The effects on people they are long-term and sometimes chronic “. In particular, the analysis shows that the conditions of isolation, the loss of freedom, the concerns about the impact of the virus on pregnancy have raged on the psychic balance. While the greatest protective factor appears to be a condition of spiritual well-being.
Most of the studies examined indicate that survivors of the infection have a higher likelihood of long-term ailments, followed by the families of the victims and health workers. In fact, 96% of virus survivors experience the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, even reaching the risk of suicide in extreme cases. Those who have experienced the nightmare of mechanical ventilation are at greater risk: up to one in two of these patients is at risk of developing psychiatric disorders such as PTSD with hallucinations, memories of panic and anxiety that could persist for up to 5 years of distance.
The situation was also particularly serious among health workers. Thanks to a meta-analysis of a total of 69,499 workers, an incidence of PTSD was found from 7.4% to 37.4% with symptoms from one to three years later. Particularly exposed to stress are also those who play a role of care (caregivers), especially the elderly.
“The rampant psychic malaise linked to the pandemic, the socio-economic uncertainties and also the awareness of having to live with the virus for a long time – underlines Zanalda – must be taken care of immediately, with all the means at our disposal, including telemedicine, under penalty of risk of we will soon be faced with a boom in new diagnoses of post-traumatic disorder, which in turn can also compromise people’s physical health “.
Therefore, if anxiety, insomnia, frustration and irascibility last for more than three weeks “it is necessary to contact the specialist. Telemedicine, in particular, today allows us to provide an effective alternative of psychotherapeutic support – concludes di Giannatonio – with the possibility of intervene promptly and adequately, allowing to process the traumatic experience from Covid-19 “.
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