Serious COVID linked to higher risk of depression months later

Serious COVID-19 was linked to a higher risk of depression and anxiety months later in a large study, adding to a growing body of data showing the impact the disease can have on mental health.

People who were bedridden for at least seven days were about 60% more likely to experience symptoms of depression, according to the study, published in The Lancet Public Health. That contrasts with those who had COVID but weren’t bedridden, who were less likely to experience depression and anxiety than people who never had the disease at all.

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The study “suggests that mental health effects aren’t equal for all COVID-19 patients,” said Unnur Anna Valdimarsdottir, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Iceland who helped lead the research.

Other research has shown that even mild Covid can affect the brain’s ability to function, with a University of Oxford team reporting shrinkage equivalent to as much as a decade of normal aging in a study earlier this month. Neurological symptoms such as memory, concentration or sleep problems, depression and anxiety are also common in connection with long Covid.

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The research team followed nearly 250,000 people in a half-dozen northern European countries for an average of about five-and-a-half months. The study recruited participants from late March 2020 to August 2021.