Pandemics and Mental Disorders: From the Thought of the 19th Century Psychiatrist Andrea Verga to long-term effects of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had and, due to its long-term effects, continues to have significant psychological consequences for many people. In this article, some of the most relevant signs of this psychological impairment are discussed, as are common reactions characterizing people’s behavior in the face of fear triggered by a pandemic. All this is considered through a synoptic reading of the 1862 text entitled Delle particolari forme di delirio cui danno origine le grandi pestilenze [The particular forms of delirium to which the great plagues give rise] by the Italian psychiatrist Andrea Verga (1811-1895). Drawing on Verga’s perspective, we can see clearly how human reactions to the fear of an unknown disease have are consistent over the centuries, and especially how some reactions are traceable to biological and social interactions in a syndemia perspective.