Long Covid patients may experience some symptoms beyond a year: Experts

The research also showed that patients who were bedridden for seven days or more had higher rates of depression and anxiety than those who were diagnosed with Covid but never hospitalised.

Long Covid is used to describe signs and symptoms that last for a week or month after having a confirmed or suspected case of Covid. “It is important to understand that one should learn to be kind to oneself, identify these experiences as part of the recovery process, work to build a healthy routine with good diet, try to build a fitness routine to their best ability rather than overdoing it, do mindfulness or meditation practices and seek the support of family and friends. If someone continues to have significant sleep disturbances or is experiencing anxiety, persistently, we recommend seeking professional help at the earliest,” he suggested.

Dr Jini K Gopinath, chief psychology officer at YourDOST, an online counselling and emotional support platform, underlined that Covid-19 could lead to serious psychological implications. “Social distancing, isolation, hospitalisation and movement restrictions had a profound impact on survivors’ well-being making them susceptible to depression and anxiety even after recovery. Many survivors experienced weakness and fatigue during their paths to recovery, adding to their anxiety levels. Those who were hospitalised lived with a constant fear of spreading the disease to their loved ones even after getting discharged. A lot of them developed symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) due to the constant urge to clean their hands,” he said.

Explaining further, he added that the social stigma associated with the disease also led to a feeling of helplessness among the survivors. “A lot of them battled with their lives in ICUs without being able to interact with their family members, making their paths to recovery quite lonely and tiresome. Many started developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after their physical recovery. Mention should also be made of those who were already suffering from various psychological conditions prior to Covid,” Gopinath added.

“As the nation was battling the pandemic, psychiatric treatment had taken a backseat. Access to proper psychiatric medication and therapeutic sessions were significantly reduced which increased their morbidity, making their conditions worse,” he pointed out.

Medical experts have long been stating that apprehensions around health and issues pertaining to the availability of medications, treatment options, duration of recovery and even worries about a relapse intensify patients’ anxiety.

“Over the past two years, people have been fighting this long-term trauma. Ideally, every human has some amount of emotional capacity to fight trauma. However, fighting chronic trauma requires a lot of energy – something which people have been doing every single day for the past two years. This is bound to have a long-term impact on people’s mind as well as body,” he said.