COVID ‐19 Positive Psychiatry Inpatient Unit : A unique experience

People with severe mental illness are often at a disadvantage, in terms of access to general medical services, under ordinary circumstances. Additionally, they are further neglected during pandemics. They might also have difficulties complying with hygiene rules and general public instructions, which make them vulnerable to infections (Huremović, 2019; Xiang et al., 2020). During pandemics, people with severe mental illness are exposed to an increased risk of relapse or exacerbation of the disorder (Huremović, 2019). In Istanbul, most of the inpatient units were converted to clinics for the treatment of COVID-19 inpatients, and all physicians were assigned to treat them, regardless of their expertise. Patients who required hospitalization due to a mental illness related problem and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, were ignored during this process—although the risk of infection was higher for them. No later than a month, a need arose for a unique unit for patients who required hospitalization because of a mental disorder and also tested positive for COVID-19, according to computed tomography and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Since patients with severe mental illness are vulnerable to infection, and are negatively impacted by the pandemic, they may experience frequent exacerbations during this period; thus, the need for inpatient units for mentally ill, comorbid patients should not be ignored (Druss, 2020; Fagiolini, Cuomo, & Frank, 2020). We have organized the “COVID-19 Positive Psychiatry Inpatient Unit” which is the first of its kind in Turkey and one of the firsts in the world, to the best of our knowledge. We believe that sharing the process of creating such unique experiences may contribute to the field during the course of the pandemic. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.