Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common problems in neurology clinical practice and currently we are in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. The coronavirus pandemic is an epidemiological and psychological crisis, which is likely to affect persons with epilepsy. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with epilepsy and effects on their mental health. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional web-based survey carried out at the department of Neurology at a tertiary care hospital. A questionnaire was designed in the local language using Google Forms to assess basic knowledge regarding epilepsy, coronavirus, effects of COVID-19 and lockdown on epileptic patients and also effects on their mental health. The link to the online survey was distributed via WhatsApp messenger to epilepsy patients. Results: One hundred fifty-six cases were enrolled with 69.1% were below 34 years of age and male: female ratio was 1.2:1. Only 34.3% of the participants were employed and 50% of patients had an income of less than Rs. 3000 per month. Of the patients enrolled, 20.5% reported the “devil” and superstitions as a cause of epilepsy and only 10% of patients thought that tantric (holy priest) could treat the disease better than doctors. 53.8% of patients worried about getting COVID-19 and could not stop thoughts about being infected by coronavirus bothering them. 30.3% patients had increased seizure frequency during COVID-19 pandemic, of which the most common reason was that they forgot to take regular antiepileptic drugs (22.7%) or they had faced difficulty in obtaining medicine due to lockdown (12.1%). During the pandemic, 17% of patients reported depression symptoms and another 21% reported anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: The current COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected patients with epilepsy and increased seizure frequency, depression, anxiety, unemployment, and financial difficulty in obtaining medication.

Current mental health services across the world remain expert-centric and are based on traditional workflows, mostly using impractical and ineffective electronic record systems or even paper-based documentation. The international network for digital mental health (IDMHN) is comprised of top-level clinicians, regulatory and ICT experts, genetic scientists, and support organizations. The IDMHN has been formed to enable the implementation of digital innovations in clinical practice, hereby facilitating the transformation of current mental health services to be more personalized and more responsive to patients and healthcare needs. This consensus statement summarizes the consortium's vision and strategy for further development of digital mental health.

Purpose: To assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 infection lockdown on the general population. Methods: From 28th April to 4th May 2020, an online survey was conducted using snowballing sampling and invitation through online social media to participate. Socio-demographic and clinical variables were collected. Psychological impact was assessed with the help of self designed questionnaire adapted from DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 CCSM-Adult scale. Results: In total, there were 568 responses from different cities / villages of the country. Out of these eight responses were excluded from the study because of lack of consent and final sample size analyzed was 560 (358 male, 202 female). Half of the participants were under 35 years of age, 63.9% were male, 49% have done post graduation and 59.1% were living in nuclear family. Analysis of response revealed presence of a high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms ranging from 5.5 % to 49.3% in the participants. Anxiety symptoms (49.3%), manic symptoms (37.3%) depressive symptoms (36.1%), anger issues (28.6%), somatic symptoms (26.3%) and sleep problems (24.5%) were the most common domains of psychiatric symptomatology reported by participants. Conclusion: Our study provides early evidence of a significant psychological impact of COVID-19 infection and lockdown on common people living in the community indicating a need for quick, comprehensive and longitudinal assessment of mental health needs of the population for early diagnosis and prevention of psychiatric disorders.

Aims: To identify prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in clinically stable COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional single point observational study was conducted among clinically stable 72 COVID-19 infected patients. Psychiatric comorbidity was assessed with the help of DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 CCSM—Adult scale. Results: The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity was 76.4% (n = 55). Depression was the most common diagnosis in 44.44% (n = 32) followed by anxiety (34.72%, n = 25), somatic symptoms (26.39%, n = 19), sleep problems (23.61%, n = 17). Around 45 .83 % (n = 33) patients considered COVID-19 infection as potentially life-threatening and 23.62% (n=17) patients experienced discrimination and stigma after being diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. Using binary logistic regression, physical symptoms was identified as a risk factor for psychiatric comorbidity. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence of a significant impact of COVID-19 infection on mental health in COVID-19 patients.