Covid-19 and mental health: a transformational opportunity to apply an evidence-based approach to clinical practice and research

Covid-19 was first recognised in December 2019 and is now posing critical challenges for public health, clinical research and medical care worldwide.1 The covid-19 outbreak has rapidly evolved into a fast-moving global pandemic, with world updates produced on a daily basis.2 For busy clinicians, this presents a problem of information overload: while there is a sea of information, finding easily accessible, reliable and up-to-date answers to immediate clinical questions can be difficult and time-consuming. The data available are a broad sweep of official guidance from different organisations (including specialty-based, country-based and worldwide), original research papers, personal/professional experiences and commentaries.

Mental health patients are particularly vulnerable in the context of covid-19, both directly because of their mental health difficulties, but also because of some of the long-term effects of psychotropic medication (such as metabolic syndrome with long-term antipsychotics), comorbid physical health problems and the effects of smoking.

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