USC GOULD SCHOOL OF LAW — The USC Gould Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics presented its fall 2021 Distinguished Lecture on the topic of COVID-19 and mental health/illness. Keynote speaker Pam Belluck, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times health and science writer, related her experience covering post-COVID psychosis, a condition affecting some COVID patients. The event was moderated by Professor Elyn Saks, founder and faculty director of the Saks Institute. Timothy Botello, M.D., medical director of LAC+USC Psychiatric Inpatient Services served as commentator. Belluck told harrowing stories of post-COVID psychosis, symptoms of delusion and paranoia afflicting COVID patients who had never previously experienced mental health issues. In one case, a 42-year old mother of four young children suddenly began visualizing violent scenarios involving the children. Belluck noted many doctors had not heard of post-COVID psychosis when she began to write about it in late 2020. “I’ve made it part of my journalistic mission to share these stories with the wider world in hopes of helping others understand and recognize these conditions,” she said. “It’s been an honor to talk with some of these COVID survivors who are experiencing these challenges and listen to them as they open up about what they’re going through.”