New research has found that the worldwide lockdown on the coronavirus has had a negative impact on the mental health of many people, especially children and young adults.
According to athenahealth’s data, the number of children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD for a first time increased by 66 percent between March and April. In addition, 41 percent of all patient visits amongst children and youth also included addressing depression.
In an announcement, Jessica Sweeney Platt, Executive Director of Research and Insights for athenahealth stated that COVID-19 had caused Individuals unprecedented levels of stress. The developments we are seeing are even more alarming when we consider that less patients are currently seeing their doctors in person.
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Sweeney Platt added: “We hope by shining a light on this information, we can encourage patients to leverage tools like telehealth in order to stay in close communication with their providers and get the help they need, especially during this emotionally difficult time.”
Athenahealth noted that, when digging deeper into the data, 27 % (of all major care visits) from children and adolescents involved a discussion about depression during the week of 9 March. However, this number jumped to 41% in the week of 13 April.
The health and technology firm noted that “During the same time period, antidepressant renewals for this particular group followed a similar pattern. There was also a more gradual increase in the share of visits with first-time antidepressant prescribing amongst children.”
As the pandemic and lockdown worsened, the same pattern was seen with ADHD diagnoses. They increased by two thirds between the weeks of March 9 and March 30. This can be attributed by the health tech company, which was purchased by private equity agency Veritas in 2019, to parents spending more time with their children and noticing additional signs of the disorder, as well as the increase in telehealth visits.
Sweeney Platt stated that the company is “starting to see” visits with psychological health diagnoses “returning back to pre-COVID-19 levels,” but added that they are still above that level.
Sweeney Platt wrote in an email to Fox News that prescription prices are returning to levels seen at the beginning of March a little faster, but they remain significantly higher.
Early April, the Department of Health and Human Services made an extraordinary announcement. The Department of Health and Human Services made an extraordinary announcement in early April. They announced that video chat apps such as FaceTime and Zoom, which are available on Apple’s iPhone and iPad, would be permitted for medical consultations.
HHS published an announcement at the time that stated: “During the COVID-19 national emergency, which is also a nationwide public health emergency, covered well being care providers subject to HIPAA guidelines could seek to talk with patients, and provide telehealth services, through distant communication technologies.”
Also included in the list are Fb Messenger, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft’s Skype.
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The psychological health of adults may also be negatively affected by the lockdown.
Athenahealth noted that the number of women diagnosed with anxiety for the first time increased by 44 percent in March. This was especially true among women aged 30 to 64. The company also noted a 25% increase in men of the same age group.
COVID-19 is a disease that has no known scientific treatment. However, many medicines are being tested to see if it can be treated.
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More than 5,000,000 coronavirus cases have been reported worldwide as of Thursday morning. Of these, more than 1.55 millions are in the U.S.A., the nation most affected on earth.
