CDC Adds Mental Health to the List of Conditions Linked to Covid 19

Those with mental health disorders are more vulnerable to Covid 19, according to research conducted during the pandemic, but the CDC didn’t add them to the list of underlying medical diseases linked to a higher risk of severe disease until this week.  The mental health specialists believe the inclusion should have happened sooner, they appreciate the FDA for approving Covid 19 enhancers for millions of vulnerable Americans.

“For far too long, public programmes and federal institutions have ignored the importance of mental health,” said Benjamin Miller, president of the nonprofit health foundation WellBeing Trust. “The CDC has made an excellent course correction.” Mood disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders were included in the CDC’s list of underlying diseases that are supported by at least one meta-analysis or systematic review.

People with mental health disorders are also more likely to smoke and to be incarcerated, he said. A study published Oct. 6 in JAMA found nearly 400,000 Covid 19 cases and more than 2,500 deaths occurred among the U.S. prison population. The recent data suggests mental health disorders may also be independently linked to a higher risk of developing severe disease from Covid 19.

A study published January in JAMA Psychiatry found patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder who were diagnosed with Covid 19 in a large New York medical system were associated with an increased risk for death after adjusting for age, sex, race and known medical risk factors.