A study also showed that healthcare professionals had very high levels of stress and depression
Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress are the psychological “legacy” of Covid-19 and the long quarantine.
This was revealed by two studies coordinated by University of Turin and recently published in international scientific journals.
According to the first study, published in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 69% of Italians present symptoms of anxiety, 31% of depression, while 20% report symptoms of post-traumatic stress
According to scientific literature, these symptoms tend to worsen over time.
Individuals most at risk are women, those with low levels of education and those who have had contact with Covid-19 patients.
The second study, carried out with health professionals and published in Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, was carried out with 145 healthcare professionals, doctors and nurses.
Those who worked in the Covid ward reported much higher levels of depression and post-traumatic stress compared to those who have not been in contact with Covid patients.
Furthermore, among the former, being a woman and being single represent risk factors for depressive symptoms, while being a woman and being older are associated with higher levels of post-traumatic stress.
In addition to highlighting the dramatic impact of the epidemic on people's mental health, for the University of Turin these results highlight the need to implement timely screening programs, with the aim of identifying people with clinically relevant levels of psychopathology.
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