Is COVID-19 the Trigger of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

The novel coronavirus 2019, known as covid-19, was first officially identified inWuhan (China) and soon spread to other countries. In response, countries closed their borders and imposed severe public health restrictions, including national lockdowns. Hence, in addition to forcing billions of people to stay at home, this novel virus imposed severe economic loss. As health agencies struggle to find global containment solutions, social distancing, frequent hand washing, and respiratory hygiene are still the major recommended strategies by World Health Organization( WHO)andCenters for Disease ControlandPrevention (CDC) (1). Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that have caused two main outbreaks, apart from the recent pandemic, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002 and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012. However, If SARS-CoV-2 infection follows a similar prognosis similar to SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV, most patients should recover without experiencing mental illness (2).