Elsevier

Journal of Affective Disorders

Volume 275, 1 October 2020, Pages 69-77
Journal of Affective Disorders

Research paper
Mental health status of individuals with a mood-disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: Initial results from the COLLATE project

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.037Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The mental health status of individuals with mood disorder during COVID-19 is unclear.

  • Our data indicates that psychological distress in these individuals is heightened.

  • The distress is linked to adverse lifestyle changes occurring in response to COVID-19.

  • Current concerns relate to loved one's health, and access to appropriate medical care.

Abstract

Background

Physical-distancing strategies during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may be particularly detrimental to the mental health of individuals with a pre-existing mood disorder. Data on the mental health status of these individuals during the current pandemic is sparse, and their current mental health needs unclear.

Method

We characterised COVID-19 related lifestyle changes, primary concerns and psychological distress in n=1292 respondents self-reporting a mood disorder (either bipolar disorder or depressive disorder) and n=3167 respondents without any reported mental disorder from the COLLATE (COvid-19 and you: mentaL heaLth in AusTralia now survEy) project; an Australian national survey launched on April 1st 2020.

Results

Psychological distress was heightened in the mood disorder group compared to the group with no mental disorder, with stress and depression further elevated in respondents with bipolar disorder compared to those with depressive disorder; and men with bipolar disorder having even higher levels of depression than women with bipolar disorder. Respondents with bipolar disorder were particularly concerned about financial issues associated with COVID-19 compared to those with depressive disorder and those with no mental disorder. Adverse changes to lifestyle behaviours were more prevalent in respondents with a mood disorder and linked to higher levels of distress.

Limitations

Mood disorder was self-reported and was not clinically verified.

Conclusions

Current psychological distress levels are elevated in individuals with mood disorder and are associated with maladaptive situational and lifestyle changes occurring in response to COVID-19.

Keywords

Bipolar disorder
Major depressive disorder
Exercise
sleep
Alcohol use
Coronavirus

Cited by (0)

1

All these authors contributed equally to this work.

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