In a few cases, people with no history of mental health problems have developed severe psychotic symptoms after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Jennifer Price, from the Morris suburb, believes her husband, Ben, contracted what is known as “post-COVID psychosis” before his death.
Ben Price, a beloved father of two and a farmer, died of suicide just days after being treated and discharged from the hospital to COVID.
“That was another level of something that took over your brain,” explained Jennifer Price.
Jennifer Price said her husband has had no mental health problems in the past and, as the days went by, she noticed a drastic change in her behavior.
“He was really on a level of panic and paranoia and was scared,” she said. “He kept saying that I’m so scared, I’m so scared, and he couldn’t even say what he was scared of.”
Jennifer Price thought her husband was suffering from brain fog. Doctors prescribed Ben Price anxiety medications, but his condition only got worse.
“There was nothing we could do to make him relax and calm down,” said Jennifer Price. “That was heartbreaking.”
Dr. Danesh Alam, a psychiatrist at Northwestern Medicine, says “post-COVID psychosis” is rare and, as a result of the reported cases, researchers are looking to see how COVID affects the human brain.
“The labs suggest that the virus may actually be crossing the blood-brain barrier, and some of the changes that we see in [the] brain related to major psychotic disorders are being observed “, explained the doctor.
As more studies are being completed, Jennifer Price hopes that by sharing her husband’s story, other people’s lives can be saved.
“We would have done something different if we had known that,” she told NBC 5.
Doctors say that if you notice a change in your loved one’s behavior, even if he or she is hospitalized because of COVID-19, see a doctor immediately, so that symptoms can be detected and treated as soon as possible.