The neuropsychological impact of the CoVID-19 pandemic on the mental wellbeing of individuals – what have we learnt thus far

Abstract

The novel Corona virus disease (COVID-19) has escalated drastically to become a global pandemic. Here we review the impact of COVID-19 on the brain. The search string “coronavirus and brain” was typed in Google Scholar and PubMed to yield 31500 and 2044 results respectively. Based on these results the effects of COVID-19 on the brain are two-fold, both neuropathological and psychological in nature. SARS CoV-2 produces a range of non-specific neurological symptoms (headaches, nausea, vomiting, altered mental status, anosmia, neuropathy, delirium, cerebrovascular incidents, seizures, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, cranial nerve dysfunctions, viral and autoimmune encephalitis). Indirect effects of SARS CoV-2 on the brain reside in the practices imposed by lockdown regulations including quarantine and self-isolation. These practices have resulted in psychological manifestations including stress, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder-related symptoms in infected and uninfected individuals. While online counselling platforms, resilience-building programmes and cognitive behavioural therapy strategies have been established, more need to be implemented to reduce the impact of these practices. *Correspondence to: Rivona Harricharan, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; E-mail: rivonah3@gmail.com