Season 3, Episode 18: Long COVID & The Risk Of Suicide

If you are considering suicide, please call 988 or your local suicide/crisis hotline.

- Long COVID evokes significant emotional stress as it is an untreatable disease that causes severe distress … social isolation and loss of income can result in significant distress (Sher, 2021).

- Long COVID may induce a mental health condition or aggrevate a previously existing condition… the combination of systemic infection, hypoxia and Neuro inflammation can precipitate or worsen a mental health condition (Sher, 2021).

- Depression is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric disorders related to the damage to the brain caused by neuroinflammation; depressive symptoms have been linked to pro-inflammatory factors and neuroglial failure (Sher, 2021).

- When comparing healthy patients to patients with long COVID, patients with long COVID are 46% more likely to have suicidal ideation (Xie, Xu & Al-Aly, 2022).

References:

Sher, L. (2021). Post-COVID syndrome and suicide risk. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine 114(2), 95-98. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcab007.

Sher, L. (2023). Long COVID and the risk of suicide. Gen Hospital Psychiatry 80, 66-67. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2022.12.001.

Xie, Y., Xu, E. & Al-Aly, Z. (2022). Risks of mental health outcomes in people with Covid-19: cohort study. BMJ 16: 376. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068993.

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DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice.