What a nice example of alarmism and scaremongering! And this is published by none other than MIT Technology Review! Pretty lousy! Very dubious! Possibly junk science!
What is wrong (plenty):
- The study was conducted on patients from 1/20/2020 to 4/1/2020. Thus, at the very beginning of Covid-19
- Only 62,354 Covid-19 cases were included
- It seems dementia and depression were the main mental illnesses found. These are probably more common among elderly than younger adults
- The age distribution of those Covid-19 cases is not easily to come by. Similar, where these patients in institutional settings ( or at home etc.
- See also how the language fluctuates between e.g. "mental illness", "mental health issue" or "mental health consequences"
- What is here apparently missing is that the patients were not asked about their condition and what they thought about it
- Is it the overall fairly harmless disease that causes mental health issues or is it the draconian measures taken by governments?
"The news: There have been increasing numbers of anecdotal reports of a link between surviving covid-19 and developing mental health problems in recent months.
A new study, published in Lancet Psychiatry, has found that almost one in five people who have had covid-19 go on to be diagnosed with a mental illness within three months of testing positive. ...
The researchers ... gathered the electronic health records of 70 million patients in the US, including 62,354 who had been diagnosed with covid-19 from January 20 to April 1 2020 but did not need to be hospitalized. They found that 18% of patients were diagnosed with a mental health issue in the 14 to 90 days after a covid-19 diagnosis. ...
Additionally, people with a pre-existing mental health condition—specifically attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, or schizophrenia—were 65% more likely to be diagnosed with covid-19. ...
The implications: We have been warned of an oncoming tsunami of mental health problems due to the pandemic for months now. “We know from previous pandemics that mental health difficulties usually follow in survivors, and this study shows the same pattern after Covid-19, so it is not unexpected ..."
A new study, published in Lancet Psychiatry, has found that almost one in five people who have had covid-19 go on to be diagnosed with a mental illness within three months of testing positive. ...
The researchers ... gathered the electronic health records of 70 million patients in the US, including 62,354 who had been diagnosed with covid-19 from January 20 to April 1 2020 but did not need to be hospitalized. They found that 18% of patients were diagnosed with a mental health issue in the 14 to 90 days after a covid-19 diagnosis. ...
Additionally, people with a pre-existing mental health condition—specifically attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, or schizophrenia—were 65% more likely to be diagnosed with covid-19. ...
The implications: We have been warned of an oncoming tsunami of mental health problems due to the pandemic for months now. “We know from previous pandemics that mental health difficulties usually follow in survivors, and this study shows the same pattern after Covid-19, so it is not unexpected ..."
"Adverse mental health consequences of COVID-19, including anxiety and depression, have been widely predicted but not yet accurately measured. ... The incidence of a first diagnosis of dementia in the 14 to 90 days after COVID-19 diagnosis was 1·6% (95% CI 1·2–2·1) in people older than 65 years."
Here is the underlying Lancet study:
No comments:
Post a Comment