Long-term effects on mental health
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected mental health on a large scale. According to an August 2020 reviewTrusted Source, many people felt an increase in stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances in response to the pandemic.
Some factors that can contribute to mental health difficulties during the pandemic include:
isolation and loneliness
difficulty working or the loss of employment
financial struggles
severe or lasting illness
preexisting mental or physical health conditions
emergency medical treatment
grief and bereavement
The impact of these experiences can be lasting, particularly if someone has experienced extreme or persistent distress. This could cause psychological trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.
ResearchTrusted Source also shows that people can experience severe stress while using a ventilator, due to their dependence on the machine to breathe. Some people also develop depressive disorders after ventilator treatment.
Treatment and support
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have found it difficult to access treatment for their ongoing symptoms.
Below are just a few of the factors that have prevented people from accessing necessary medical care:
Lack of awareness: Early in the pandemic, doctors were not aware that COVID-19 could cause lasting symptoms. Early guidance indicated that for most people, the illness would be short-term.
Lack of information: Scientists are not yet sure what causes long COVID or how best to manage it. This can mean that even when doctors are aware of the potential long-term impact, they may not know how to provide treatment.
False-negative test results: According to an article in BMJTrusted Source, false negatives are common among people with COVID-19. This, coupled with a lack of access to testing in some areas, means that many people with long COVID do not receive medical attention. For this reason, the article’s authors recommend that doctors do not require positive test results in order to diagnose chronic COVID-19 symptoms.
More resources may now be available for support. These include:
Post-COVID clinics
Numerous healthcare centers in the United States and elsewhere have set up post-COVID clinics to help people recover from the illness.
Many of these clinics aim to help people who have spent time in the hospital. They focus on helping people with breathing and rebuilding muscle strength and also provide psychological care for people with anxiety or depression. Examples of these clinics include:
The Post-COVID Assessment and Recovery Clinic at Penn Medicine, in Philadelphia, PA
The Center for Post-COVID Care, part of the Mount Sinai Health System, in New York City
The COVID-19 Follow-up Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco
An increasing number of providers are also establishing clinics for long COVID.
If a person cannot reach a clinic in person, they may be able to request a phone or video appointment.
Apps and online tools
Some health organizations have developed online tools to provide people with information and guidance as they recover from COVID-19. Two examples include:
the Your COVID Recovery portal from the United Kingdom’s National Health Service
the Mental Health and COVID-19 Information and Resources portal from Mental Health America
A person may also be able to access therapy and other mental health support online, via an app, or over the phone.
Learn how teletherapy services work here.
Support groups
Online support groups can help people understand that they are not alone and provide a platform for talking through experiences. Some support groups have been involved in efforts to research long COVID.
Some examples of these groups include:
Body Politic’s COVID-19 Support Group
Survivor Corps, a nonprofit that also run a Facebook group
COVID-19 Support, a Facebook group
Long COVID Support, another Facebook group
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