NIMHANS Director Suggests to Focus on Mental Health Amid Pandemic by Angela Mohan on July 26, 2021 at 10:30 AM COVID-19 pandemic doesn't affect just the lungs, but multiple organs in the human body, including the brain, says Dr Murthy, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, in an interview to IANS. "A lot of people are finding it difficult to come out of the trauma, some are facing repeated panic attacks," Murthy said. She explained that research reports on the long-term consequences of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a viral respiratory disease associated with coronavirus) and MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) have found that several people are suffering with sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety, and in some rare cases, psychosis.