Some COVID-19 survivors face another foe: PTSD

The sickest of COVID-19 patients struggle to breathe. Facing a disease new to science, they’re isolated from their loved ones and treated by doctors and nurses in hazmat suits. Now, a small study in Italy finds that nearly a third of people who were very ill with COVID-19 developed post-traumatic stress disorder after acute infection.

Psychiatrist Delfina Janiri of Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic in Rome and colleagues assessed the mental health of 381 severely ill COVID-19 patients an average of 100 days after symptoms first appeared. About 30 percent, or 115 people, were diagnosed with PTSD, the team reports February 18 in JAMA Psychiatry. Depression and anxiety also turned up in these patients, though not as frequently. PTSD was more common among women, people who had a history of psychiatric disorders, and people who experienced delirium or agitation while very sick with COVID-19.

The rate of PTSD is comparable to that of survivors of other coronavirus infections such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), as well as natural disasters, the researchers say. About 30 percent of New Orleans residents who survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and its aftermath developed PTSD.

Lingering effect

In a small study in Rome, about 30 percent of patients who had recovered from severe COVID-19 went on to develop PTSD. The rate is comparable to that of survivors of the coronavirus infections MERS and SARS, as well as survivors of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Rates of PTSD among survivors of COVID-19 and other traumatic events