Mental virus

Frontiers in Microbiology , accepted ; DOI: ScienceDaily, 9 August Viruses can trigger psychiatric disorders, research suggests. Retrieved January 13, from www. Featured Content. Physicians and patients should be aware The team determined that psychiatric disorders share many genetic variants, Covid cases are at an average of more than , per day, surpassing the previous record of around , average daily cases set on January 11 of With around 75, Americans hospitalized and more than 1, daily deaths in the U.

Izzy Davis, a junior at Northampton High, shared that Covid has had a drastic negative impact on his mental health. He spoke to the lonely nature of social isolation from online schooling, social distancing, and mask-wearing. Being online was a complete loss of motivation. Izzy said the threat and fear of him or a loved one contracting the virus was incredibly detrimental to his mental health and socialization during this time.

Coming from a family with someone who is high risk, the virus makes you anxious around people all the time. A silver lining, perhaps, is that with the rise of Covid, discussions about mental health and seeking out resources have become more normalized. Tabitha Randlett, a Williston senior, said the winter months normally negatively impact her mental health, and Covid, especially the recent rise of Omicron, has exacerbated the problem.

It really messed me up for a couple days. Going online brought me back to who I was last year. Saenger Breen, a senior at Northampton High School, said Covid has made her feel cut-off from the world. Information overload, rumors and misinformation can make your life feel out of control and make it unclear what to do. And mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, can worsen. Surveys show a major increase in the number of U.

Some people have increased their use of alcohol or drugs, thinking that can help them cope with their fears about the pandemic.

In reality, using these substances can worsen anxiety and depression. People with substance use disorders, notably those addicted to tobacco or opioids, are likely to have worse outcomes if they get COVID That's because these addictions can harm lung function and weaken the immune system, causing chronic conditions such as heart disease and lung disease, which increase the risk of serious complications from COVID For all of these reasons, it's important to learn self-care strategies and get the care you need to help you cope.

Self-care strategies are good for your mental and physical health and can help you take charge of your life. Take care of your body and your mind and connect with others to benefit your mental health. Make connections. If you work remotely from home or you need to isolate yourself from others for a period of time due to COVID , avoid social isolation. Find time each day to make virtual connections by email, texts, phone or video chat. If you're working remotely from home, ask your co-workers how they're doing and share coping tips.

Enjoy virtual socializing and talking to those in your home. If you're not fully vaccinated, be creative and safe when connecting with others in person, such as going for walks, chatting in the driveway and other outdoor activities, or wearing a mask for indoor activities. If you are fully vaccinated, you can more safely return to many indoor and outdoor activities you may not have been able to do because of the pandemic, such as gathering with friends and family.

However, if you are in an area with a high number of new COVID cases in the last week, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public or outdoors in crowded areas or in close contact with unvaccinated people.

For unvaccinated people, outdoor activities that allow plenty of space between you and others pose a lower risk of spread of the COVID virus than indoor activities do. Stigma can make people feel isolated and even abandoned.

They may feel depressed, hurt and angry when friends and others in their community avoid them for fear of getting COVID Stigma harms people's health and well-being in many ways.

Stigmatized groups may often be deprived of the resources they need to care for themselves and their families during a pandemic. Psychiatrists beware! Psychiatric Times Accessed May 03, Front Med. WHO warning on lockdown mental health. Euobserver Correia T. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Lancet Psychiatry.

Looking after your mental health during the Coronavirus outbreak. Mental Health Foundation Lancet Child Adolesc Heal. Concerns for the mental health of children and adolescents during the coronavirus pandemic. Armitage R, Nellums LB. Lancet Public Heal. World Economic Forum How to protect older people from the coronavirus.