CASES of psychosis have gone up during the coronavirus lockdown in Oxfordshire with other mental health problems also on the rise.

Psychosis is when people lose some contact with reality, with the two main symptoms hallucinations and delusions.

It can be the result of a condition such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression but can also be triggered by a traumatic experience, drug misuse and alcohol misuse or a physical condition, such as a brain tumour.

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Speaking at Tuesday's meeting of Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Dr David Chapman, Oxford City locality clinical director, said mental health services had been continuing during coronavirus, with a move towards remote appointments.

He added: "We are seeing an increase in psychosis over that period of time both in new psychosis cases and also in people who have had pre-existing psychosis where they have deteriorated."

He described this as 'sort of interesting' and said it was likely a consequence of the coronavirus lockdown, explaining: "My experience personally in general practice is that actually a lot of people with psychotic illnesses depend on contact with other people in the community of various sorts, being cafes or just going out to the shops or something like that and these have all disappeared so it's not surprising that some of these things have got worse."

He added: "We are now beginning to see a rise, definitely seeing it in primary care, in mental health issues coming through and that's also being detected across the system."

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Dr Chapman said one of the positives to come out of the Covid crisis had been a 24 hour mental health line in Oxfordshire which he said had been 'very successful' and was something they were trying 'very hard' to keep in place beyond the pandemic.

Oxfordshire psychologist Dr Andrew Molodynski, who is also the British Medical Association's mental health policy lead, warned last month the UK was facing a surge in demand or mental health services including everyone from traumatised frontline NHS staff to children isolated during school closures.

He said new cases signalled that the strain on 'our already overstretched and underfunded mental health services' in the coming months and years would be 'severe'.

To contact the Oxfordshire helpline for adults the number is 01865 904997.

For children and young people the number is 01865 904998.