COVID­19 and mental disorders: mechanisms of development and possibility of detection: a review

Abstract

Objective — to find the mainCOVID-19-associated psychiatric disorders and mechanisms of their development basing on the literature analysis. Materials and methods. 112 literature sources from the PubMed database for the queries «Covid AND mental health», «Covid AND mental disorders» were analyzed and 36 of them were selected for detailed study. Results and discussion. It were found that patients with COVID-19 often have multiple neurological and mental disorders, such as agitation (69 %), signs of damage to the corticospinal tract (67 %), confusion (65 %) and neuropsychological disorders (33 %). Among the mental disorders that are observed after a coronavirus disease, the most common are insomnia (42 %), decreased concentration and attention (38 %), anxiety (36 %), memory disorders (34 %), depression (33 %), confusion (28 %) and other disorders of consciousness (21 %). The most vulnerable contingents of the population are children, adolescents and the elderly, who suffer not only from the disease itself, but also from the consequences of isolation. Special attention should be paid to healthcare professionals, who often have anxiety (12—20 %), depression (15—25 %), insomnia (8 %) and post-traumatic stress disorder (35—49 %). Conclusions. The COVID-19 pandemic has already profoundly strongly influenced the mental health of the population. This was especially reflected in such groups of the population as patients with psychiatric pathology, medical workers, the elderly and people in difficult financial situations. Given the potential for new waves of COVID-19 disease and increased quarantine restrictions, as well as the possibility of new epidemics in the future, it is important to make clear guidelines that will help mitigate the impact of the pandemic crisis and restrictive measures and prevent massive mental health deterioration.