Attempted suicide, dexamethasone, and COVID-19: Clinical Case on COVID-19 treatments and the implications for mental health

摘要: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) a public health emergency on January 30, 2020. 1 Corticosteroids (not used in previous epidemics of severe respiratory syndromes due to risk of worsening lung lesions) have played an important role in the treatment of COVID-19, mainly because they were found to reduce mortality in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 by 20%. 2 However, recent studies 3 warn of inconsistent results and the need to reevaluate the role of corticosteroids in the treatment of COVID-19, and they are advised only for patients who are critical.The neuropsychiatric effects derived from corticosteroid treatment are widely described in the literature. Their incidence varies from 3% to 72% 4 and spans a broad spectrum of symptoms, from subtle changes in mood to severe affective syndromes and psychosis, 5 as well as cognitive failure. The …