It was hardly a surprise to clinicians when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently added mood disorders to the list of illnesses that increase the risk of severe coronavirus cases. According to the researchers, the mind-body relationship has been studied for decades.

However, the scientific mark of approval is still important since it makes millions of people eligible for booster doses based solely on their mental health diagnoses and provides vulnerable populations with additional reasons to take precautions.

According to the executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, “This is a population at risk because of the way covid-19 interacts with the diagnoses.” That was unknown to them until the CDC added this group of illnesses to their list.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a vast variety of mostly physical ailments, including cancer and diabetes, have been linked to an increased risk of hospitalization, ventilator use or death from the coronavirus.

“Mood disorders, including depression, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders,” as defined by the CDC, necessitate that people with these conditions get vaccinated (with initial doses and boosters), as well as take preventive measures, like masking, social distancing, and hand washing.

These precautions, according to public health experts, are especially important for the elderly and those with numerous health issues on the list, which is not intended to be exhaustive and has been revised often throughout the pandemic.

Millions of Americans could be placed on notice if mental illness is added to the list of high-risk conditions.

More than 19 million people in the United States had at least one episode of depression in 2019, according to federal data, and at least half of those people were diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.

According to a study published this month in the journal Lancet, the numbers have only increased since then. There were 53 million new cases of depression worldwide in 2020, a rise of 28 percent over the previous year, according to the report.

Dana Mueller, the director of adult and family medicine at Mary’s Center, a community health clinic in Washington, DC, has seen a lot of heartache as a result of the pandemic.

The majority of her patients, many of whom are front-line employees, suffer from high levels of anxiety and despair, as well as high blood pressure and obesity. First doses are still being administered despite the fact that vaccines have been available for 11 months. In order to maintain a positive working connection with her patients, she emphasized the importance of a solid scientific foundation.

As soon as we say it, they’ll believe it. Mueller added, “We can say anything we can to say, ‘This matters and you’re at greater risk,'”

The CDC was urged for months to consider adding mental illness to its list of high-risk conditions, which already included addictions to alcohol, opiates, or cocaine.

Coronavirus is more dangerous for patients with substantial mental illness, according to two meta-analyses published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

After the elderly, those with schizophrenia were the second most likely group to die from covid-19, according to a study that evaluated data from seven nations.

There was another report that looked at 21 studies that encompassed 91 million participants, and it was written by Roger S. McIntyre of the Chicago-based Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

Preexisting mood disorders were found to be a significant risk factor for hospitalization and death, even after controlling for factors such as smoking, comorbidities such as heart disease, and insecurity in health care.

“We have a lot of reasons to be on the lookout for people who are depressed,” he says. McIntyre, a psychiatry professor at the University of Toronto, said, “They have to get in front of the queue to get their vaccines.”

There is a lack of knowledge about the biology of mental illness and the coronavirus that may explain why the outcomes are worse when both are present.

It was only when Anna Mendez, executive director of the charity Partner for Mental Health in Charlottesville, an affiliate of Mental Health America, realized that a local shelter was only accepting clients who had conditions on the CDC high-risk list that she decided to become involved. At the time, she had a client who was ineligible because of his mental illness.

When she inquired about the use of this list by service providers in her community, she was met with silence.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has received a letter signed by 15 other organizations calling for a “immediate and urgent response” to the Ebola outbreak.

Individuals with these disorders should not be considered “invisible” and should be given the same level of consideration as those who suffer from other conditions on the CDC’s list, the organizations stated.

People with mood disorders could benefit from the shift, according to Mary Giliberti, executive vice president of policy at Mental Health America, which is based in Alexandria.

she said, “I think this will make a tremendous difference to people who have these mental health conditions, their families and providers.”

This year, the coronavirus claimed the lives of the most mentally ill individuals in state psychiatric hospitals, according to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services’ chief clinical officer, Alexis Aplasca.

The shift could highlight the need of vaccination and infection prevention training for caregivers, which the state is expanding through federal grant funds..

According to Aplasca, “What this tells us is that we need to do a little extra work for this population and commit resources to reach these people.

Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon has remarked that the shift shows how mental and physical health are intertwined.

Covid-19 infections can be exacerbated by certain mental health diseases, including substance abuse disorders, according to a statement from Dr. Elizabeth Warren, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to Treatment Advocacy Center head Dailey however public health officials may mistakenly view of mental illness as a separate entity.

In her words: “It’s a physical illness.” A top-down strategy is very necessary.” As a nation, we must take the lead on this matter.

People with mental problems can be vaccinated using the same procedures that have been used to vaccinate huge numbers of elderly and nursing care patients, Dailey said.

According to her, “We need to figure out where this population will be, and we need to address any concerns they may have about the vaccine.” In a nutshell, “It’s not that complicated.”