Depression is one of the most common mental conditions that has affected people in many parts of the world since the outbreak of coronary heart diseases. Sadegh Shahnavazi, a psychiatrist, explained in an interview with Ehsan Mohammadi about depression caused by the disease and ways to deal with it: Covid and physical problems, fear of the consequences of the disease, not seeing your loved ones, getting worried, and the fear of family and quarantine are factors that can make a person depressed. And usually, people with a coronary heart disease suffer more than other people after recovery of Covid-19. He said:
“Corona, due to the speed of transmission, which is a feature of this virus, has created fear and an emergency situation, and this contagious disease has not only caused concerns over public physical health, but also mental illness. It also causes mental disorders.”
The psychiatrist continued: “In these circumstances, it is necessary to maintain the mental health of people, especially coronary patients; because people in different parts of society may experience stressful stimuli during corona diffusion, in the current high-risk situation, it is essential to identify individuals prone to psychological disorders and recovering at different levels of society whose mental health may be compromised.”
Shahnavazi added: “Disturbing thoughts are also one of the disorders that coronary heart disease sufferers face.” This disorder can cause patients to become obsessed and constantly think about trying to stay away from coronary behaviour. Also, psychosomatic disorders and anxiety caused by re-infection of Covid can negatively affect the function of other parts of the body, including the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, etc., and cause headaches and shortness of breath.
“The psychological consequences of coronary heart disease can be caused by the immune system’s response to the virus itself, and psychological stressors such as stigma, social isolation and concerns about infecting others, which can be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner,” he said. Mental health conditions can prevent further disorders and disabilities.
“After the end of the corona epidemic, there will be psychological damage to people, especially those with coronary heart disease, which will also affect the healthcare system,” the psychiatrist said. It is necessary to develop methods and instructions for the prevention of mental disorders in individuals by health officials and express through experts the ways to prevent psychological harm in all different segments of society through the media.
The results of a large study show that coronary arteries develop depression and anxiety several months after the onset of the disease. Researchers at the University of Oxford examined the electronic health records of more than 69 million American patients in this study; 62,354 of them were infected with the corona virus between late January and August 1, 2020.
In this study, a follow-up of people who tested positive for coronary artery disease showed that for the first time in three months, one in five people with coronary artery disease developed anxiety, depression or insomnia for the first time. Researchers found that the risk was almost twice as high in other groups of patients during the same period, and the study also found that people with a history of mental illness had a 65% higher risk of developing Covid-19 than those without the illness. It was more.
Mental health experts who did not participate in the study believe that the findings of this study confirm the growing evidence that corona affects the brain and mind of patients and increases the risk of a number of mental illnesses. Researchers found that the most common rate of anxiety, depression and insomnia were among the recovering from Covid-19 who had mental health problems. They also found that the risk of dementia, which is significantly higher than dementia — characterised by reduced brain functions such as memory and thinking — is much higher in these people.
According to the results of this study, 20% of people with coronary heart disease develop a mental disorder within 90 days. The study also found that people with a history of mental illness had a 65% higher risk of developing Covid-19 than those without a history of the disease.
Covid-19 was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and since has spread rapidly to almost every country in the world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the outbreak as a pandemic.