Psychopathological profile in COVID-19 patients including healthcare workers: the implications.

OBJECTIVE: The effects of COVID-19 seem to extend beyond the physical pain and is showing psychiatric implications as well. Moreover, psychopathological implications seem to last also after patients' discharge. Our goal is to investigate the psychological impact and psychopathological outcome of patients affected by COVID-19. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have engaged 34 patients with COVID-19 conditions [eight of them were healthcare workers patients (HCW)] hospitalized at "Policlinico Gemelli Foundation" of Rome, Italy. All patients were evaluated through the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R) first, during their hospitalization (baseline), and then, after 4 months from hospital discharge (follow-up), through phone interviews. RESULTS: At baseline, 82% of patients revealed from mild to severe psychological impact of COVID-19, according to the IES-R. At follow-up, the mean IES-R total score was significantly decreased (p<0.001) even if almost half (46.6%) of our cohort still showed it. HCW patients showed a significantly higher score than other patients at IES-R scale, both at baseline (p=0.005) and at follow-up (p<0.001). Moreover, at 4 months from discharge, they showed a significantly higher percentage of moderate and severe distress (p=0.015). In addition to this, at follow-up, our cohort of patients showed an increase of anxiety symptoms, even if not significant compared to baseline (46.7% vs. 35.3% respectively; p=1.000), and HCW patients suffered more sleep disorders (p=0.019) and anxiety symptoms (p=0.019) compared to other patients. CONCLUSIONS: We indicate the importance of assessing psychopathology of COVID-19 survivors, monitoring their changes over time, and providing psychological support to improve their psychological well-being.

Theory of Mind after Severe Acquired Brain Injury: Clues for Interpretation.

Background. Recently, increased interest has been shown in Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities of individuals with severe acquired brain injury (sABI). ToM impairment following sABI can be associated with altered executive functioning and/or with difficulty in decoding and elaborating emotions. Two main theoretical models have been proposed to explain the mechanisms underlying ToM in the general population: Theory Theory and Simulation Theory. This review presents and discusses the literature on ToM abilities in individuals with sABI by examining whether they sustain the applicability of the Theory Theory and/or Simulation Theory to account for ToM deficits in this clinical population. We found 32 papers that are directly aimed at investigating ToM in sABI. Results did not show the univocal predominance of one model with respect to the other in explaining ToM deficits in sABI. We hypothesised that ToM processes could be explained by coinvolvement of the two models, i.e., according to personal experience, cognitive features, or the emotional resources of the persons with sABI.