PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF LONG COVID: COMPARING TRAJECTORIES OF DEPRESSIVE AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS BEFORE AND AFTER CONTRACTING SARS-COV-2 BETWEEN MATCHED LONG- AND SHORT-COVID GROUPS
Daisy Fancourt, Andrew Steptoe and Feifei Bu (The British Journal of Psychiatry (2022) Page 1 of 8. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2022.155
Diese interessante Studie erforscht die Symptome von Depression und Angst nach einer COVID19-Infektion und verwendet Vergleichsdaten vor der Infektion.
Sie kommt zum Ergebnis, dass Covid19 entsprechende Symptome triggert, welche bei Long Covid länger anhalten. Ganz besonders relevant scheint aber folgender Kontext:
„Symptoms of depression and anxiety emerge quickly following the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection […] This points to immediate psychobiological pathways […] Existing literature proposes that inflammatory mechanisms could be at play.“
„[It] may not simply be a case of initial anxiety symptoms experienced during acute infection […] persisting, but also a consequence of new psychological challenges relating to the realisation that one’s initial infection is becoming Long COVID.“
„Barriers to diagnosis with Long Covid and subsequent challenges navigating and accessing treatments can in itself exacerbate Long COVID. […] These additional treatment-related stressors could contribute to the prolonging of Long COVID symptoms.“
„We recommend that any mental health support needs to be provided alongside (rather than as a substitute for) broader medical investigation and support for Long COVID“
„[…] given diagnosis of psychiatric symptoms without adequate attention to other symptoms has been found to be detrimental to mental health in patients with Long COVID.“