Using psychoneuroimmunity against COVID-19.

Plain Language Summary

This viewpoint article raises awareness of the threat of COVID-19 poses to psychiatric patients who are in mental health hospitals. Those patients appear to have a much elevated mortality rate and are potentially more vulnerable to the effects of panic/anxiety due to the pandemic. Their lifestyle choices, influenced by fears about the virus, may also have a negative effect on their immunity. The article also raises the issue of the effects the pandemic and associated changes to day-to-day life can have on the mental and general health of the rest of the population, and in particular to mental health professionals, whose ability to care for their psychiatric patients may be impaired. The authors also briefly discuss the psychological and immunological mechanisms that connect our mental state to the ability of our immune system to fight infections, and the impact of our lifestyles and environments. To summarise they state that infected patients, uninfected quarantined individuals and medical professionals all require mental health supporting strategies, and that epidemiological studies of potential long-term psychiatric consequences are essential.