Anxiety-related disorders up due to pandemic, say doctors and experts

PUNE: Symptoms of depression, panic attacks,

anxiety

, germophobia and sleep disturbance have increased significantly among patients in the aftermath of the Covid-19 spread, doctors said.


Sources from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, said that there has been at least a 20-30% increase in anxiety disorders to OPDs in the month — most dealing with an obsessive fear of Covid-19, followed by non-specific health anxiety, panic disorder and somatoform disorders.

“Around 15-20 patients come each day with anxiety related to Covid-19. Most want to know if they require testing. On an average, 90-120 patients come each day to OPDs at NIMHANS, of whom 20-30% are exhibiting increase in anxiety disorders due to the contagion. As per our clinical registry, the anxiety is the highest in elderly patients (above 50 years) and their family members, while 60% of the pre-existing depression and anxiety disorders have worsened. About 5% of them have reported guilt and suicidal thoughts. Of the follow-up patients over the past month, 18-20 of the 60 patients have reported worsening symptoms,” Debanjan Banerjee, MD Psychiatry at NIMHANS, told TOI.

NIMHANS gets cases/calls not just from Bengaluru, but also cities like Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata etc.

Banerjee said that almost 80% of the patients now demand testing for Covid-19, as do 20-30 calls placed to their virology department and a medical institute close by. “I personally get at least 5-10 calls/mails asking whether Covid-19 is dangerous and whether testing will be necessary. Over the past week, the elderly patients have decreased in OPD by over 60% due to the fear of COVID transmission,” he said.

Doctor Rakesh K Chadda, secretary-general, World Association of Social Psychiatry (WASP), said, Major fears among patients these days include fear of getting the infection and concerns about availability/non availability of specific treatment. “It is possible that this fear can rise in the coming days, with the increase in positive cases and fatalities,” said Chadda, who is also professor and head of psychiatry, and chief, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi.

Chadda said that there was a general anxiety among people or a fear of getting the infection in the backdrop of media reports, which is reflected in use of masks by and hoarding. “In psychiatry, we have not seen any patients coming only with a fear of Covid-19. A general concern is present in the patients coming for their primary psychiatric problem,” he said.

Pune-based clinical psychologist and online psychotherapist Prachi S Vaish said the pandemic was affecting the mental health of people in two ways. “Spreading an ‘anxiety epidemic’, where people have become hypervigilant, paranoid and germaphobic — this is the reason for hoarding; and people who are already struggling with mental health issues are experiencing exacerbated symptoms and relating every experience of distress to Covid-19,” she said.

“This is a mass hysteria issue more than an individual mental health issue, and needs to be tackled by psychological first-ad and group interventions that are focused on relieving anxiety, which can cause the logical part of the brain to shut down. If we can bring about mass interventions to deactivate the fight-or-flight mode of people, then more logic will prevail,” Vaish said.