Infection | Brain
Evidence Suggests COVID-19 Might Have Neuropsychiatric Aftereffects
“Are we facing a crashing wave of neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19?” psychiatrists ask — and why immune system regulation is important for brain health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created much psychological distress. Coupled with the virus's ability to cause neurological symptoms like encephalitis, loss of smell and taste, meningitis, etc. — what else could SARS-CoV-2 be doing to the mind?
A recent review published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity discusses just that. “Are we facing a crashing wave of neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19? Neuropsychiatric symptoms and potential immunologic mechanisms” is the paper’s title — written by Emily Troyer, MD, and her psychiatrist colleagues at the University of California San Diego.
History of Virus Pandemics and Neuropsychiatric Sequelae
During the 18th and 19th centuries after the influenza pandemic, there was a drastic rise in cases of schizophrenia, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, psychosis, delirium, and suicidality. Scientists called this “psychoses of influenza” — and indeed, influenza is known to…
