Since the beginning of Coronavirus pandemic, the world is facing huge challenges for the prevention of mass infection. Studies shows that wearing facemasks and hand washing seems to be the best protection from disease transmission. Indeed, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 was efficaciously controlled in countries where mask wearing is respected. However, such recommendations may not be easily established with inpatients with mental disorders due to limited ability to embrace instructions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of facemasks and hand’s wash among inpatients with mental disorders during coronavirus pandemic in a psychiatric hospital in Tunisia.

This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2021 among thirty hospitalized inpatients in a psychiatric department suffering from schizophrenia. All patients responded to an anonymous questionnaire about mask wearing and washing hands status. Knowledge about COVID-19 was assessed by a 6-item questionnaire inspired from a Corean study.

Preliminary findings showed that most patients are aware of covid-19 pandemic and about barrier gestures but only a very few (less than 20%) wear masks. Inpatients with schizophrenia were in most cases not afraid from covid-19 contamination within the hospital and less that 50% were vaccinated.

During a pandemic, psychiatric departments needs an extra attention because of the high-risk of spreading infections in inpatients with mental diseases. Communication has to be clearer, and repeated assistance by correctly reminding measures has to be implanted above all for patients with schizophrenia.

No significant relationships.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the current world issue, with huge impact on mental health. More specifically,we expect that it will have a naocif effect on the pregnant women’s mental health and their well being, since they are more likely to be hospitalized and require more intensive care units admission than non-pregnant women.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the evolution of depression symptoms in the time of pandemic and their associated factors.

In the current work, we conducted a comparative in field cross-sectional study. We compared depressive scores and prevalences before and after the COVID-19 outbreak in Tunisia in pregnant women.The sampling period was outside the lockdown period to avoid quarantine bias. The sampling period was from September to October 2020.

showed a significantly higher prevalence of depressive symptoms in expecting mothers during the pandemic. Multivariate analysis showed that the pandemic multiplied by 3 the risk of severe depression symptoms. The impact of the COVID-19 period on depression was independent of sociodemographic and obstetric changes related to the pandemic.

These results highlighted the emergency of preparing strategies to avoid post-partum psychiatric disorders and to enable a healthy development of born. Screening the post-partum depression and assessing the mother-children early interactions should be considered in the up-coming births.

No significant relationships.

A growing amount of studies investigating the mental health impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic worldwide have been recently published, even though very few studies investigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown on the mental health of fathers of newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on paternal postpartum depression (PPD).

A case report describing a 37-years-old man with an obsessive-compulsive personality who manifests the onset of a clinically relevant PPD following his wife’s delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of obsessive symptomatology.

At baseline and during a 12-months follow-up were administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19-S), Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Y-BOCS-II (Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale).

Patient was successfully treated with vortioxetine up to 20 mg/die with a significant clinical remission of depressive and obsessive symptomatology at 6 months and a maintenance therapy with vortioxetine 10 mg daily.

PPD should be better investigated, particularly the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of fathers of newborns during the COVID-19-related situation.

No significant relationships.

Much has been learned about SARS-CoV-2. However, the mechanism of short or long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms remains unclear. several hypotheses, including lack of oxygen caused by lung damage, inflammation affecting brain cells, or Lack of blood flow caused by swelling of the small blood vessels in the brain, have been advanced to explain these symptoms.

Herein, we presented a case of cognitive impairment diagnosed after infection with COVID 19.

We discussed, through a clinical case, the possible mechanisms and risk factors of cognitive impairment following COVID 19 infection.

This case concerned a 28 –year-old patient. He had no personal or family psychiatric. In August 2021, he presented a SARS-CoV-2 infection without hypoxemia or respiratory failure. On day 10 the patient recovered. Two days after, he consulted our psychiatric department as he experienced impairment in memory. He had impairment in attention and executive function, and in particular verbal fluency. He said that his thinking was sluggish, fuzzy, and not sharp. He denied any alcohol or drug abuse. He was euthymic and he had no depressive symptoms. Arterial blood gas, laboratory, and clinical findings were normal. A brain CT scan with contrast was performed and did not show any abnormality.

This case highlighted the possible cognitive consequences of COVID-19 during the recovery phase. Further work is required to identify risk factors of psychiatric symptoms following COVID-19 infection and their management.

No significant relationships.

The emotional state of university students is critical for their successful learning, efficient interacting with people around, and increasing the quality of life in general. The COVID-19 pandemic widely affected the mood and emotional state of student youth.

The study focuses on tracing the dynamics of positive and negative affects among students in the first few weeks after the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic and one year later.

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS, Watson, Clark, Tellegen, 1988) was applied in the research. The study involved 210 university students aged 18 to 23. The study was conducted online shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in spring 2020 (N = 105) and a year later (winter-spring 2021) (N=105). Given that the sizes of subsamples are comparable ANOVA was used for the periods under consideration (Levene Statistic > 0.05).

One-way analysis of variance ANOVA showed that evaluations of positive affect differ significantly (p <0.05) while estimations of negative affect do not differ (p> 0.05) during the periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020 and winter-spring 2021 ). With Post Hoc Scheffe, it was also shown that the positive affect scores in spring 2020 were significantly higher than in winter-spring 2021 (p <0.05).

Thus, it has been shown that although the level of negative affect in students did not increase a year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of positive emotions significantly decreased during this period. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-04-60174.

No significant relationships.

The 2020 year was the first year of Covid19 pandemy in Serbia. Epidemiological measures introduced to prevent the spread of the infection have shaped both the everyday life of citizens and the way the health system of our country functions. A large number of those infected required the redistribution of health personnel to work in covid zones and therefore the work with non covid patients suffered.

The aim of the study is to process and present the epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized patients at the Clinic for Psychiatry of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina in Novi Sad in 2020.

A retrospective analytical study of the epidemiological type was conducted.

During 2020, a total of 1345 patients were hospitalized at our Clinic, which is over 30% less than during the previous year. Several males, aged 19 to 45, with a predominant diagnosis of psychosis, were hospitalized. Hospitalizations lasted significantly shorter than during the previous year. The number of relapses was significantly lower. Patients with other diagnoses of mental disorders are significantly less often hospitalized, except for those with addiction diseases who are hospitalized in a reduced percentage.

Restrictive epidemiological measures led to a significant reduction in the number of hospitalizations at our Clinic, primarily because patients were prevented from exercising their right to health care, but also because of the mobilization of all healthy defense mechanisms in a collective crisis situation and consequently reduced psychopathological manifestations.

No significant relationships.

Nurses and firefighters are professions characterized by exposure to high occupational stress.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the intensity of coronavirus anxiety and its associations with depressive symptoms and burnout in samples of Polish nurses and firefighters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fifty nurses and 55 firefighters were recruited for the study. Respondents were administered the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlations and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data.

Nurses scored significantly higher than firefighters on the CAS (M = 2.76, SD = 4.18 vs. M = 1.15, SD = 2.24; p < 0.05), the CESD-R (M = 11.64, SD = 10.80 vs. M = 5.85, SD = 7.34; p < 0.01) and both dimensions of the OLBI, i.e. exhaustion (M = 2.38, SD = 0.56 vs. M = 1.91, SD = 0.55; p < 0.001) and disengagement from work (M = 2.28, SD = 0.48 vs. M = 1.93, SD = 0.43; p < 0.001). In the both study groups coronavirus anxiety significantly correlated with depressive symptoms and exhaustion, and only in nurses also with disengagement from work.

This study demonstrated that coronavirus anxiety was more pronounced in nurses than in firefighters. The findings provide preliminary evidence for the positive associations of coronavirus anxiety with depressive symptoms and burnout in both groups.

The study was supported by the grant of the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) No. I.PB.08 “Occupational burnout and depression in professions with exposure to high levels of occupational stress: determinants, prevalence, interrelations a

Covid-19 does not only have repercussions on the physical level, representing a new way of life, both individually and in society. The pandemic results in invisible consequences for the population’s mental health.

This study aimed to explore the consequences of Covid-19 on mental health in Portugal with a view to understanding and promoting the well-being and happiness of the Portuguese.

The study included 111 young people and adults, aged between 18 and 58 years (M= 21.81, SD= 5.34), with 43.7% males and 52.7% females. A sociodemographic questionnaire was applied to all participants, as well as the Échelle de Mesure des Manifestations du Bien-Être Psychologique (ÈMMBEP; Massé et al., 1998 - Portuguese translation by Monteiro, Tavares & Pereira, 2012) which translates into a response scale 5-point Likert type, with five subscales, including happiness. In addition, a semistructured interview with data collection instruments was administered.

The results obtained demonstrate the negative impact of Covid-19 on the level of well-being, regardless of the participant’s gender or age.

The data presented point to the need to sensitize individuals to the risk of the pandemic in terms of mental health, thus increasing society’s awareness of the psychological effects of this new global disease. Therefore, coping mechanisms are essential to promote well-being and successfully overcome the pandemic.

No significant relationships.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Sars-cov2 virus remains unclear concerning its clinical manifestations and its sequelae. Few studies have evaluated the existence of cognitive impairment in patients with COVID-19 and estimated its imputability in the development of these disorders.

The objectives of this study is to assess cognitive disorders in post-COVID patients.

A descriptive observational survey was conducted by the psychiatry department of Mongi Slim hospital in Tunis-Tunisia during May-June 2021 among covid-19 patients selected at the first post covid consultation (at 1 month). First, sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, then the evaluation of the cognitive disorders was carried using many scales: MMS (mini mental state), FAB, TMT and the maze task.

Eight patients met the selection criteria with a sex ratio of 6:2 and an average age of 67.5 years (6 with a primary level). The extent of the lesions varied between 10% and 75%. Among the participants, 4 required hospitalization in intensive care: 3 with non-invasive ventilation and 1 needed intubation. The 1-month evaluation found that all the patients had good memory and execution skills with MMS scales >25 and FAB scales >14. Regarding flexibility and planification: 4 of them needed more than 78 seconds to complete the TMT-A ,3 took more than 273 seconds to complete the TMT-B and 2 needed more than 60 seconds to accomplish the maze task (deficient scores).

The screening of cognitive disorders in post-COVID patients is very important for a better management that may require early neurocognitive rehabilitation.

No significant relationships.

Together with agranulocytosis, fever and immflamatory manifestations are clozapine side effects to be monitorized during initial treatment. In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, implied mechanisms, and symptomatology should be carefully controlled.

To analyze the clinical analytic and inflammatory chracterisctics the resembles and differenciates clozapine immune response and SARS-CoV-2 infection. To describe a case of clozapine induced fever and pneumonitis during COVID-19 pandemic.

A case of clozapine-induced pneumonitis during COVID-19 pandemic is described.- A mini-review of clozapine inflamamtory effects, induced-pneumonitis and SARS-CoV-2 was performed.

A 33 year old afrolatin male started treatment with clozapine up to 250 mg daily. He developed fever and respiratory symptoms in the 11th day of treatment. The exploration revealed pulmonary sounds decreased and 91% basal saturation, making the probable causes viral infection (local incidence of SARS-CoV-2 >800/100000hab), nosocomial bacterial infection or pulmonary thromboembolism. The patient was isolated due to probable COVID-19. Blood tests showed leucocytosis (13400/mcL), Lymphocytopenia (11.8%), high PCR (14.4mg/dL), Ferritine (506.9ng/mL), Fibrinigen (663.83 mg/dL), D-Dimer (1.61mg/dL), and Interleukin-9 /25.8pg/mL). The angioTC revealed a pleural efusion and ground glass infiltrates (figure1). Only after 2 weeks eosinophilia was discovered (88/mcL) After 2 negative consecutieve PCRs for SARS-CoV-2, no imrovement with ampirical antibiotics and all infectious pannels negative, we started decreasing clozapine with improvement of the symptoms and resolution after suspending clozapine completely.

Clozapine may induce a generalize inflammatory response mediated by interleukin-6. Patients treated with clozapine may exhibit fever and rarely, insterstitial lung inflammation. The expression of induced pneumonitis resembles viral infections, particularly SARS-CoV-2

No significant relationships.

Paediatric and adult psychiatric emergency department (ED) visits decreased during the initial COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Long-term consequences of the pandemic will include increases in mental healthcare needs especially among especially vulnerable groups such as children and adolescents.

This study examined changes in the number of overall and diagnosis-specific mental health ED visits among patients aged <18 years following onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Madrid, Spain.

We used electronic health records to extract the monthly numbers of total and diagnosis-specific mental health ED visits among patients aged <18 years, between October 2018 and April 2021, to La Paz University Hospital. We conducted interrupted time-series analyses and compared trends before and after the day of the first ED COVID-19 case (1st March 2020).

In March 2020, there was a marked initial decrease of -12.8 (95%CI -21.9, -7.9) less monthly mental health ED visits. After April 2020, there was a subsequent increasing trend of 3.4 (95%CI 2.6, 4.2) additional monthly mental health ED visits.

After onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in paediatric psychiatric ED visits, especially due to suicide-related reasons. These data reinforce the crucial role of the ED in the management of acute mental health problems among youth and highlight the need for renovated efforts to enhance access to care outside of and during acute crises during the pandemic and its aftermath.

No significant relationships.

The sudden changes in daily routine due to the containment measures adopted for facing the COVID-19 pandemic have had an impact on the mental health of the general population. In particular, young adults are exposed to a higher risk compared to the general population to suffer from the consequences of the pandemic, in terms of anger and irritability, depressive symptoms and somatic complaints, insomnia, lack of motivation and loneliness. In particular, loneliness can be particularly pronounced during young adulthood.

This study aimed to describe the levels of loneliness in a sample of Italian young people during the national lockdown in 2020, evaluating clinical and socio-demographic differences and the role of coping strategies and levels of resilience.

A sub-analysis of a sample of adults aged 18-34 years has been drawn on a larger cross-sectional observational national trial (COMET, 2020) in which, among other psychopathological dimensions, the levels of loneliness have been assessed by the UCLA scale short version.

Levels of loneliness were particularly severe in a third of cases (risk factors: unemployment, low income and vulnerability in mental health), in association with depression, anxiety, stress, OCD symptoms, higher rates of suicidal ideation, sleep disturbance and excessive use of Internet. Levels of loneliness tended to increase over time.

Overall, during the Italian COVID-19 lockdown young people have experienced quite high levels of loneliness: this dimension could represent a useful domain to assess in routine clinical practice.

No significant relationships.

The epidemic of COVID-19 has affected the psychological health of people, especially frontline medical and paramedical staff. Several coping strategies have been used to combat the impact of this virus on their lives.

Describe the impact of coronavirus on mental health and identify coping strategies

We carried out a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, conducted over a period of two months ( september and october 2020), in 22 hospitals in Tunisia, including frontline medical and paramedical staff. To evaluate anxiety and depression, we used the Beck Inventory. To identify coping strategies, we used the Brief COPE.

We collected 78 professionals. The mean age was 29.86+-5.4. The majority were medical residents (67.9%) working in covid units in 39.7% of cases. The rythm of work was daily in almost half of the cases, giving direct care to the patients tested positive in 76.9%. More than half had not received adequate training, and protective equipment was available in only 50% of cases. We found 35.9% of the staff who had to move for fear of infecting their families. More than half of the frontline staff were victims of stigma (57.7%). Depression and anxiety were tested minor in 40%. The most used coping strategy in the face of this distressing virus was social support (64.1%) followed by emotion-focused mechanisms (53,8%). Social support strategy was significantly correlated with prevention of anxiety (p=0.048)

Participants practiced and recommended various coping strategies to deal with stress, depression and anxiety emerging from COVID-19 pandemic.

No significant relationships.

The spread of the corona virus (COVID-19) has an enormous psychosocial impact on humanity across the globe, resulting in an increase in mental health issues. There are no specific diagnostic instruments that could identify COVID-19 related mental health problems. In recent months, new scales have been developed to identify COVID-19 related problems.

Our objective was to investigate the clinical utility of these new assessment instruments.

We performed a literature search, using Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus and Cochrane library databases, to search for new scales identifying COVID-19 related mental health problems.

During the first half of the year 2020, we found five published new self-report measurement instruments: Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), the COVID Stress Scales (CSS), the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS), and the Questionnaire on Perception of Threat from COVID-19. These instruments have been validated in a group of middle-aged ambulatory patients.

These new instruments might be useful in non-clinical settings. Although the psychometric reports are promising, the instruments have been validated in a less vulnerable group of patients. Future validation studies should also comprise other age groups, particularly the old and more vulnerable population.

No significant relationships.

Patients with mental disorders mainly schizophrenia represent a vulnerable population. In Covid-19 pandemic situation, could schizophrenia be considered as a significant mortality risk factor ?

In this study, we aimed to explore the odds of significant COVID-19 mortality among schizophrenia patients

Our literature review was based on the PubMed interface and adapted for 2 databases: Science Direct and Google Scholar using the following combination ( schizophrenia [MeSH terms]) AND (COVID-19, mortality[MeSH terms])

Our review included 4 population-based cohort studies covering the period from december 2019 to May 2021. The data showed increased mortality risk among individuals with schizophrenia who have had COVID-19. Indeed, this high rate of mortality maybe associated with multiple factors such as unhealthy lifestyle, low socioeconomic status and comorbidities as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. The use of antipsychotics can be considered as a risk factor regarded its immunomodulatory effects. Furthermore, stigma and discrimination towards mental illnesses particularly schizophrenia might have contributed to a worse prognosis.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder ,associated with an increased high risk Covid-19. Thus, this population require enhanced preventive and disease management strategies.

No significant relationships.

Recent research showed that persons with mental disorders may represent a population at increased risk for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection with more adverse outcomes.

We aimed to analyze clinical profile of psychiatric inpatients during their infection with COVID-19, and to explore factors associated with the disease progression.

We analyzed retrospectively the medical records of 32 psychiatric inpatients, hospitalized in psychiatry “B” department at Hedi Chaker hospital (Sfax, Tunisia), and who contracted the COVID-19 infection. We used “Charlson Comorbidity Index Score” (CCIS), predicting 10-year survival in patients with multiple comorbidities.

Somatic history was reported in 50% of patients. The CCIS ranged between 0 and 4. Psychiatric diagnosis was schizophrenia in 81.3% and bipolar disorder in 18.7% of cases. The clinical symptoms reported were fever (50%), dry cough (75%); dyspnea (34.4%). Biological assessment showed a lymphopenia in 40.6% and a high C-Reactive Protein (CRP) in 53.1%. Among our patients, 37,5% needed oxygen, and 25% were transferred to the intensive care unit. The COVID-19 complications were mostly bacterial pulmonary superinfections (21.9%) and pulmonary embolism (9.4%). Only three (9.4%) patients died from the virus. Patients with medical history were more likely to need oxygen (p<0.001). Clinical and paraclinical parameters associated with oxygen need were: fever (p<0.001); dyspnea (p<0.001); lymphopenia (p<0.001); high CRP (p=0.001). Patients presenting pulmonary superinfection or embolism were more likely to require oxygen (p=0.006 and p=0.044 respectively).

This study highlighted factors that may worsen the COVID-19 infection evolution, and which require special attention, in order to improve the prognosis of this disease.

No significant relationships.

Heath workers especiallyin the emergency rooms and emergency medical services are exposed to sustained stress which had increased due to the Pandemic situation

To search for factors associated with mental disorders among health workers during the Covid 19 pandemic

Data were collected through a questionnaire,with demographic variables anddifferentscales to evaluate the degree of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, distress, and the level of work engagement(PHQ-9,GAD-7,ISI,IES-R,UWES-9).

Of the 217 participants, 46% were physicians, 42% were nurses and 12% were emergency medical technicians. We also found a femalepredominance of 66%, 55% were single and a total of 155 participants of whom 71% were frontline health workers. In our study, 54.8% of the HCWs had symptoms of depression, 68.2% had symptoms of anxiety and insomnia and 71.4% had symptoms of distress. Binarylogisticregressionanalysisshowedthat being married was associated with depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and being a frontlineworkerappeared to be a risk factor for depression and insomnia. Psychiatric support was an independentrisk factor for all psychiatric symptoms.In addition, living in a rural area was associated with depression, and age 31 or older was associated with anxiety. In addition, having a history of psychiatric illness was a risk factor for insomnia. Being a nurse was identified as a risk factor for psychiatric distress. We also found a moderatelevel of professional commitment to be a protective factor.

Protecting healthcare workers is a crucial part of the public health response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

No significant relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on the challenges and risks faced by frontline healthcare workers (HCW).

To describe the quality of management of HCW affected by the COVID-19.

This is a cross-sectional study enrolling all HCW of Farhat Hached Academic hospital who had been affected by COVID-19 during the period from september to December 2020.

During the study period, 267 HCW were affected with a mean age of 42.3 ±10 years and a ratio-sex of 0.25. The most represented category was nurses (33.3%) followed by technicians (26.1%). Gynecology department had the highest number of affected HCW (14.4%).The majority of participants (97.4%) reported a medical care. Twelve HCW (4.5%) were hospitalized with an average length of hospital stay of 7.55 ± 6.12 days. The average length of sick leave was 18.68 ± 10.99 days. During the lockdown, 38.6% of HCW took care of their children without any external help. All of the HCW were supported by phone calls from colleagues in 88.4% of cases, the hierarchy in 67.4% of cases, occupational medicine in 60.3% of cases.

The impact of COVID 19 is greater in HCW than in the general population. The affected staff should have a multidimensional management to avoid post covid sequelae in both physical and mental levels.

No significant relationships.

Burnout is understood as a stable professional and personal deformation, which can be typical for teachers (Maslach, Schaufeli, 1993). Multilevel structure of burnout that include physiological, affective-cognitive, and behavioral dimensions was described (Perlman, Hartman, 1998). С. Maslach proposes a three-dimensional burnout model, including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduction of personal achievements (Maslach, 2000; Schaufeli, Enzman, 1998). It is especially important to prevent burnout by effective using of self-regulation resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the level of stress increases (Samanta et al., 2020; Pascale, 2020).

The study was held in 50 teachers, who worked remotely during the self-isolation due to COVID-19 pandemic, and aimed to estimate the relationship between psychological resources of self-regulation and signs of reduced professional burnout in teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

. The assessment methods included: 1) Maddi’s “Hardiness survey”; 2) Hobfoll”s “SACS”; 3) Maslach’s “Burnout inventory”.

The results revealed that the teachers with high and medium burnout differ in terms of engagement as a component of hardiness (p=0,002). The teachers with less pronounced burnout syndrome have more developed involvement, which means that these teachers enjoy their own activities and, perhaps, this is what becomes a psychological resource and allows to overcome emotional exhaustion. There is an inverse relationship between such a sign of professional burnout as emotional exhaustion and involvement as a component of hardiness (r=- 0,521, p=0).

The results of the study can be applied to develop programs to improve the psychological well-being and performance of teachers working under stress due to COVID-19 pandemic.

No significant relationships.

According to recent reports Covid-19 patients may exhibit psychiatric co-morbidities that cause dysfunction, loss of autonomy and emotional suffering even after the physical illness is treated. Considering the high impact Covid-19 may have on mental health, we have created a psychiatric consultation dedicated to the study, observation and support of patients that developed mental illness after being hospitalized due to Covid-19.

We aim at 1) describe the profile of patients that developed psychiatric comorbidities following a hospitalization due to Covid-19 and 2) recognize and treat early psychiatric symptoms in Covid-19 patients.

Based on what was described in other epidemic crisis, we established a semi-structured interview to evaluate several dimensions of the patients’ life that may have been affected by Covid-19 and that may impact on mental health. The interview included the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Each patient was observed multiple times over several months. Our evaluation was done in parallel with consultations in Internal Medicine.

Most patients complained of symptoms directly related with the infection of SARS-CoV-2, namely fatigue, short breath and reduced tolerance to efforts. Importantly, many patients also reported de novo or aggravation of anxiety, stress, depression, sleep disturbances and grief often associated with feelings of existential emptiness and lack of purpose.

Hospitalization due to Covid-19 has a high impact on mental health, raising important questions on purpose and emptiness. An early psychiatric intervention is highly recommended.

No significant relationships.