Italian physicians have found that nearly one in three patients who have suffered severe COVID-19 suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) several months later, their research is published in the American journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The Italians analyzed the cases of 381 patients with an average age of 55, of whom about 80 percent were hospitalized in Rome with an average of 18 days. It found that four months after recovering from the infection, 30% were experiencing symptoms of PTSD, 17% were depressed and 7% were experiencing generalized anxiety disorder. People with diagnosed PTSD were more likely to be female, have a history of psychiatric disorders and have delirium on admission, and have a prolonged course of coronavirus.

PTSD can occur after a traumatic experience. Similar phenomena have been observed before after outbreaks of other infections, medics point out.