Long COVID: Stress may be an aggravating factor

ACCORDING to recent research, people suffering from depression, stress or loneliness could be more likely to develop long COVID.

If you're experiencing "psychological distress" when you catch COVID-19, this may increase your chances of developing long COVID, according to the findings of a study published in JAMA Psychiatry and reported on by Slate.

Stress, depression and anxiety are all factors that could have an effect on the development of long COVID.

This condition is associated with experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, breathing difficulties, pain or skin problems two months after the onset of the disease.

To carry out their research, the specialists questioned more than 54,000 volunteers about their mental health in April 2020.

Among this panel, composed mainly of nurses, more than 3,000 contracted COVID-19. They answered a series of questions about their symptoms over 19 months.

The researchers found that participants with signs of anxiety, depression, stress and loneliness had around 30% to 50% increased risk of developing long COVID.

“These results also reinforce the need to increase public awareness of the importance of mental health and to get mental health care for people who need it, including increasing the supply of mental health clinicians and improving access to care,” said in a statement Dr. Andrea Roberts, senior research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School and senior author of the JAMA Psychiatry paper.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, about 20% of American adults who have had COVID-19 have developed long COVID.