Depression and Anxiety double risk of death from covid?

[specialmom]

I caught wind of several articles lately that talk about DOUBLE risk of death from covid if you are depressed and anxious. Here's an easy to read link: https://www.verywellmind.com/mental-illness-doubles-risk-of-covid-19-death-study-says-5194637  Any thoughts?

[Paxiled]

I would just offer a caveat to this so as not to scare to death those who suffer from anxiety or depression.  People who suffer from these diseases are usually lumped together as if their bodies all act the same or they all eat the same etc.  Obviously, this is not true.  I'm guessing the risk factors are the same as those in people who aren't depressed or anxious in a disease state way, which is, if they engage in harmful behaviors such as poor eating habits, lack of exercise, trouble sleeping, etc. they might not be as healthy as those who have healthier lifestyles, but if they don't manifest their mental illness this way they won't and these problems are pretty prevalent in the US whether one has a mental illness per se or not.  Statistics are a funny thing and can be made to say anything you want them to, but lets take one example.  Most of those hit the hardest by covid in the US are overweight or obese.  Most of those aren't suffering from a mental illness, but as many of them are as those who aren't overweight or obese.  So how would you know it's the mental illness or it's the obesity?  It's also not true that people who suffer from mental illness have higher levels of cortisol or if they do that would lower their immune systems.  It's not like taking a cortico-steroid, it's a natural process the body has evolved to usually handle and then it goes down again but it's most associated with those who get panic attacks and then only during the panic attack.  It's kind of a chicken and egg thing.  I suffer pretty bad mental illness and it has had its effects, but I exercise, am not obese, and have a strong immune system.  I'm just one person but it just shows that with mental illness, generalizations are frightening to people but not demonstrably true given all the other things in our society that make us  sick and weaken our immune systems.  In a country almost in a civil war, fighting a pandemic, very poor eating and exercise habits, sedentary lifestyles, horrible pollution in everything we eat, drink, and breathe, and overwhelmed by prescription medications that help one thing while damaging others, how would anyone know which part of our lives is causing these problems?  I'm guessing if you test any one of them you will find an increase in bad covid outcomes.  Pollution, for example, is partially to blame for the our of proportion effect covid has had on minorities, as their communities are where we put the worst polluters.  So this might be true, but I doubt there's any proof of it and so if you do have a mental illness don't add this to your worries.  Focus on your mental health.  Peace.