Psychiatric News (5/18) reports, “Among the many ways COVID-19 has adversely impacted mental health is via the economic recession” the pandemic has caused. Now, utilizing “gleamed from previous economic crises, a team of specialists has suggested several health policy actions that may mitigate some of the impact of this recession.” The experts recommended increased “investment in suicide depression,” extended “expansion of telehealth services,” development of “support systems that connect patients to social services,” and “health insurance coverage for people who lose coverage through their employer.” Their recommendations (pdf) were published online ahead of print in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Recommend Strategies to Mitigate Risks Due to COVID-19 Economic Impact, Psychiatric News , May 18, 2020

CNN (5/18, Azad, Lamotte) reports that “delirium, confusion and agitation may be common in severe coronavirus infections while patients are hospitalized, according to a new review of studies published Monday.” The study said “long-term, psychiatric problems after battling Covid-19 may not occur in the majority of patients, although much more research is still needed.” The study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, “looked at 72 different studies on two historical coronaviruses, as well as current studies on Covid-19, trying to hone in on any links between the diseases and psychiatric problems.” However, “information on post-recovery of patients is scarce at this time, so the study had no data on the long-term mental impact of Covid-19, and only 12 low-to-moderate quality studies on hospitalized patients to analyze, seven of which have not been scientifically vetted.” Meanwhile, “the study only looked at severe Covid-19 cases in which individuals have been treated in a hospital, and therefore doesn’t address the possible impact of milder or asymptomatic cases of the disease.”

Related Links:

— “Delirium and agitation may follow Covid-19 infection, study says, “Arman Azad and Sandee LaMotte, CNN, May 18, 2020

NPR (5/14, Dembosky) reports that some people are newly motivated to quit smoking based on reports of smokers being more likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and more likely to develop severe symptoms. For example, “early studies suggest that smokers who develop COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are 14 times more likely to need intensive treatment compared with nonsmokers.”

Related Links:

— “Fear Of Contracting Coronavirus Propels Some Smokers To Quit, “April Dembosky, NPR, May 14, 2020

CNN (5/14, Alfonso) reports that fears of contracting COVID-19 “have infected thousands of people suffering with substance abuse disorders around the Appalachian region, where substance abuse experts, doctors and state officials have seen a rise in relapses as the US struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.” Public health officials also “say the pandemic is aggravating the problem by forcing people in recovery into isolation, stripping them of crucial support systems and causing some to relapse.” In response “to this grim reality, officials in the region are developing new medical practices and guidelines to help an already at-risk community cope with the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “The pandemic is triggering opioid relapses across Appalachia, “Fernando Alfonso III, CNN, May 14, 2020

NPR (5/14, Kamenetz) reports, “In response to a call on social media, parents across the country shared with NPR that the mental health of their young children appears to be suffering as the weeks of lockdown drag on.” According to Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the editor-in-chief of the journal JAMA Pediatrics, the problem “isn’t just learning loss.” Christakis says a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics “documents elevated depression and anxiety among children under lockdown in China.” Christakis wrote an editorial, also published in JAMA Pediatrics, arguing “that the risks to children’s learning, social-emotional development and mental health need to be better balanced with the risks of spreading the coronavirus.”

Related Links:

— “With School Buildings Closed, Children’s Mental Health Is Suffering, “Anya Kamenetz, NPR, May 14, 2020