Coronavirus: Survivors 'at risk of PTSD'

People who were seriously ill in hospital with coronavirus need to be urgently screened for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), leading doctors say.

The Covid Trauma Response Working Group, led by University College London and involving experts from south-east England, said those who had been in intensive care were most at risk.

The experts said regular check ups should last at least a year.

More than 100,000 people have been treated in hospital for the virus. The experts say tens of thousands of these would have been seriously ill enough to be at risk of PTSD.

The working group highlighted research which showed 30% of patients who had suffered severe illnesses in infectious disease outbreaks in the past had gone on to develop PTSD, while depression and anxiety problems were also common.

Tracy is just one of many people who has been left with psychological scars from her coronavirus experience. She was admitted to Whittington Hospital in north London in March and spent more than three weeks there - one of which was in intensive care.

"It was like being in hell. I saw people dying, people with the life being sucked from them. The staff all have masks on and all you saw was eyes - it was so lonely and frightening."

Since being discharged in April the 59-year-old has been struggling to sleep because of the thought she will die and she has constantly suffered flashbacks. She is now receiving counselling.

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Source: BBC News, 29 June 2020