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. 2021 Aug:302:114045.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114045. Epub 2021 Jun 6.

Psychological consequences and differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with mental disorders

Matthias Favreau  1 , Andreas Hillert  2 , Bernhard Osen  3 , Thomas Gärtner  4 , Sandra Hunatschek  5 , Moritz Riese  6 , Karina Hewera  7 , Ulrich Voderholzer  8
Affiliations

Psychological consequences and differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with mental disorders

Matthias Favreau et al. Psychiatry Res. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: People with mental disorders might be differentially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on patients with various psychiatric disorders who were admitted to inpatient treatment.

Methods: Five-hundred thirty-eight inpatients with mental disorders participated in a survey about psychological consequences of the pandemic between March-December 2020. We examined the perceived burden by restrictions and worries, changes in health care utilization, and helpfulness of coping strategies.

Results: More than 50% reported any worsening of symptoms, 40% stated increased need of therapeutic support. High rates of symptom deterioration were observed for depressive symptoms (>55%), anxiety (>40%), and sleeping behavior (>40%). Treatment impairment was stated by 27.9%. Patients with anxiety disorders were less affected by contact restrictions compared with eating disorders and depression. Patients with anorexia nervosa and post-traumatic stress disorder experienced higher helpfulness by daily structuring than patients with depression.

Discussion: About half of our sample of psychiatric patients experienced symptom deterioration due to the pandemic and about one quarter reported impairment of treatment modalities. Especially patients with eating disorders and depressive disorders were more frequently affected. The results indicate a needed improvement of treatment options during a pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Differential impact; Mental disorders; Mental-health; Pandemic; Psychological burden.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Prof. Dr. Voderholzer receive fees for books, lectures and workshops on psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of participants (N = 538).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with mental disorders.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proportion of patients expressing symptom worsening due to the pandemic (“Strongly agree”) by diagnoses.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Perceived burden by COVID-19 related restrictions.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Perceived burden by worries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Changes in psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with mental disorders.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Means of perceived helpfulness of different coping strategies. Higher scores indicate higher helpfulness. Values in parentheses represent the percentages of patients that used respective strategies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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