U.S. Adds Mental Health Conditions as a COVID-19 Risk Factor

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added mood disorders to a list of conditions that would put people at higher risk for severe symptoms of COVID-19. The recognition of certain mental health conditions including mood disorders, depression, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders as risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness means people with the conditions are a priority group for booster doses.

"This is a population that is really, really at risk due to the way that COVID-19 interacts with the diagnoses," said Lisa Dailey, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center.

The federal data showed that more than 19 million people, or about 8 percent of U.S. adults, had at least one episode of depression in 2019.

Of those, at least half received a depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia diagnosis. During the pandemic, the problem worsened, with a global study finding 53 million new depression cases were diagnosed in 2020.

A meta-analysis found that people with pre-existing mood disorders have an increased risk of death from COVID-19. The latest addition of mental health disorders places it alongside conditions such as cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and pregnancy on the list of conditions that may make someone more likely to experience severe outcomes such as requiring hospitalization and ventilation from a COVID-19 infection.

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Source-Medindia