COVID-19 lockdown in people with severe mental disorders in Spain: Do they have a specific psychological reaction compared with other mental disorders and healthy controls?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions could have adverse consequences for patients with severe mental disorders (SMD). Here, we aim to compare the early psychological impact (depression, anxiety, and stress responses, intrusive and avoidant thoughts, and coping strategies) on people with SMD ( n = 125) compared with two control groups: common mental disorders (CMD, n = 250) and healthy controls (HC, n = 250). An anonymous online questionnaire using a snowball sampling method was conducted from March 19–26, 2020 and included sociodemographic and clinical data along with the DASS-21 and IES scales. We performed descriptive and bivariate analyses and multinomial and linear regression models. People with SMD had higher anxiety, stress, and depression responses than HC, but lower scores than CMD in all domains. Most people with SMD (87.2%) were able to enjoy free time, although control groups had higher percentages. After controlling for confounding factors, anxiety was the only significant psychological domain with lower scores in HC than people with SMD (OR = 0.721; 95% CI: 0.579–0.898). In the SMD group, higher anxiety was associated with being single (beta = 0.144), having COVID-19 symptoms (beta = 0.146), and a higher score on the stress subscale of DASS-21 (beta = 0.538); whereas being able to enjoy free time was a protective factor (beta = −0.244). Our results showed that patients with SMD reacted to the pandemic and the lockdown restrictions with higher anxiety levels than the general public, and suggesting this domain could be a criterion for early intervention strategies and closer follow-up.

Psychological Distress in Patients with Autoimmune Arthritis during the COVID-19 Induced Lockdown in Italy

“…The psychological distress observed in autoimmune arthritis seems to be shared with some chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases [ 50 ], asthma and COPD [ 51 ], cancer [ 52 , 53 ], and psychiatric disorders [ 44 , 54 , 55 ]; whereas patients with other chronic conditions, such as multiple sclerosis [ 56 ] and, surprisingly, patients with diabetes, do not seem to have particularly suffered from the negative psychological consequences of COVID-19-induced lockdown, even though, for diabetes patients, their levels of adherence to treatment and lifestyle habits were reported to be significantly reduced [ 57 ]. The reason for these discrepancies among chronic conditions is difficult to interpret and may be ascribed to differences in study populations, such as age (i.e., older in arthritis than in multiple sclerosis or type I diabetes), gender (i.e., predominance of the female gender in arthritis than in type I diabetes), but also on the illness itself, such as severe inflammatory joint pain, stiffness and, consequently, functional limitation pathognomonic of autoimmune arthritis, which are closely dependent on tight medical monitoring, and can quickly impact the psychological well-being of these patients.…”

The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms and their associations with quality of life among clinically stable older patients with psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Of older adults, those with preexisting psychiatric disorders need greater attention due to the high risk of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic 6 , 7 . To reduce the risk of disease transmission, some preventive measures, such as quarantine and travel restriction, could trigger or worsen mental health status in older persons with psychiatric problems 7 . For instance, clinically stable older patients with psychiatric disorders usually require long-term maintenance pharmacotherapy.…”

Buffering Effect of in-patient Psychiatric Care on the Link Between Fear of Covid-19 and Mental Health Consequences

“…In the current study, we aimed at assessing fear of COVID-19, symptomatic distress levels, as well as wellbeing among inpatients and outpatients, during the rst lockdown, in Shalvata Mental Health Center in Israel. Based on recent literature, showing that the fear of covid-19 among psychiatric patients is as severe as in the general population (3)(4)(5), we hypothesized that both groups would exhibit similar levels of "fear of covid-19". Moreover, seeing that the fear itself has been shown to have detrimental effects on symptomatology and wellbeing of different patient groups (3,4,13), our second hypothesis was that inpatients-would be unaffected from the determinate effects of the fear of covid-19 on mental health and wellbeing.…”

“…Nonetheless, preliminary evidence from the current pandemic indicates that the fear of covid-19 among patients with previous mental health disorders, may be at least as severe as in the general population (3)(4)(5). Many people with mental health di culties share the suggested risk factors found in the general population for having a higher mental health risk, including: lower socioeconomic condition, having less coping skills and less social support, and having higher measures of hostility towards others (6).…”