COVID‐19 and the increase in schizophrenia incidence in the future: A hypothesis and a serious warning

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), which has caused a global pandemic, is brought on by the Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). Since the COVID‐19 pandemic started so recently, dealing with complications that emerge years later and have the potential to cause several crises for humanity is one of the issues we face in the post‐COVID‐19 age. Therefore, we wish to discuss a theory and potential dangers surrounding the probability of schizophrenia following COVID‐19 infection in this study. METHODS: The literature search for this article has been entirely internet‐based. Information was gathered using the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. RESULTS: The results showed that multiple immune system changes brought on by COVID‐19 have been identified as potential causes of schizophrenia. CONCLUSION: It is predicted that one of the long‐term effects of COVID‐19 is an increase in the risk of schizophrenia incidence based on the results of this study, which looked at the pathophysiology and etiology of schizophrenia as well as the pathogenic mechanisms of the SARS‐CoV‐2. Therefore, healthcare staff should be prepared to handle any potential risks in future.