Page 37 - Bulletin, Vol.80 No.2, September 2021
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systems could be "considerable" due to The role of confinement
the scale of the pandemic, notes The disorders observed during this
Professor Paul Harrison (University of pandemic are not only due to the
Oxford, UK), lead author of the study. disease itself: confinement is also
Especially since many of these responsible for many physical and
disorders are "chronic", requiring health mental dysfunctions.
systems to be equipped "to meet these
needs". The psychological effects of isolation
are well known (polar expeditions,
Anxiety disorders already observed submarines, prisons). However, the
in Italy
scale of the confinement implemented
An earlier Italian study (6) carried out during the pandemic is unprecedented.
on 400 infected patients in the Milan The consequences of isolation are:
region already indicated an initial boredom, social isolation, stress, lack of
increase in post-traumatic stress, sleep, anxiety, post-traumatic stress,
followed by depression in patients with depression and suicidal thoughts,
Covid-19. According to this study, addictive behaviour, hallucinations, and
coordinated by the Italian hospital also over-eating and obesity. Domestic
centre of San Raffaele and published in violence also increases, brought on by
the journal Brain, Behavior and round-the-clock idleness and living in
Immunity, 55% of patients hospitalized too close proximity.
for Covid-19 develop a psychiatric We can add to this the decline in birth
disorder – post-traumatic stress, rates that has occurred throughout the
depression, anxiety, insomnia and world – a cause of concern for the
obsessive-compulsive disorder – one future. Conversely, an increase in
month after their discharge from the unwanted pregnancies has been
hospital.
observed.
According to psychiatrist Marion As it can be seen, we are still far from
Leboyer (7) “The consequences of fully understanding this pandemic. The
Covid-19 (...) involve infected people only relatively effective measure of
who show concern for themselves or control available to us at present is
their loved ones, but also uninfected vaccination, but to date, only a small
people, exposed to stress, anxiety (...). portion of the world’s population has
The inflammatory effects of the been vaccinated. Furthermore, as
infection leave sequelae which increase variants of the virus emerge, it remains
the risk of psychiatric pathologies”.
to be seen how well the available
vaccines protect against them.
If you have persistent signs of fatigue,
anxiety, etc. even if the acute phase of
the disease is declining, it is strongly
recommended that you consult your
attending physician and if necessary, a
psychiatrist.
36 AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 80 No. 2, 2021-09
