Psychiatric News (10/30) reports a study found that adults with serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely to develop long COVID, or “post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).” The researchers “used health records data from the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network to compare outcomes over six months for 1.6 million U.S. adults with a confirmed COVID-19 infection between March 2020 and October 2022 who also attended a follow-up visit 30 or more days postinfection.” They observed that “among patients with a prior SMI, 28% developed PASC. After adjusting for demographics, people with any SMI were 10% more likely to develop PASC. The increased risk held true for each individual SMI category; COVID patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or recurrent depression were 7%, 14%, and 8% more likely to develop PASC, respectively.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Adults with Serious Mental Illness Face Increased Risk of Long COVID, Psychiatric News, October 30, 2025